You Saved My Life
by Avalain Nightshade
Summary: He saved her life. Twice. She needs to repay him by saving his. The problem is, Esca gets more than she bargained for by saving him. As Esca is integrated into the Avengers' way of life, as she establishes friendships and connections with them all, she realizes something. He's in love with her now, and she isn't sure if it's possible for her to be loved.
1. Sokovia and the Avengers

"You just saved my life."

"I suppose I did."

"But how did you… the train—"

"You're welcome."

"Well, thank you—but I still—don't know how you…"

Esca trailed off, staring at the grinning man in front of her. He looked amused as she stammered; his gray eyes were full of laughter. She crossed her arms defensively and muttered, "It was still a train."

He looked back at the train and nodded. It had finally stopped; it lay about six feet from where she and the man were standing. He had somehow managed to pick her up and spirit her away from the vehicle just before she was squashed. "That is indeed a train," he said, still smirking.

There was a silence for a minute before he asked, "Well, do you have a name?"

She blinked and looked at him sideways. "I do," she replied. "But I'd like to hear yours first."

He raised an eyebrow at her request, but apparently decided to comply. "Pietro Maximoff. And y—"

But he was stopped by Esca, who had just gasped and pointed at the sky. "Look out!"

Pietro whirled around and leapt toward the robot descending straight for them. He was faster than Esca could ever imagine—in less than one second, he had defeated the robot and landed back on the ground. He grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way as the chunk of metal collapsed on the ground right where she had been standing.

"Thanks," she gasped breathlessly. "Was that how you got me away from the train?"

But she didn't receive an answer—Pietro's joking manner seemed to have evaporated. He looked at her with widened eyes and exclaimed, "You need to find somewhere safe to hide. More of those robots will come, and they will kill you if you don't get out of the streets."

"Can I help kill them?" asked Esca, although it was mostly a rhetorical question. If she could just control herself a little better, she might actually be able to lessen the number of mechanical enemies that were flooding the city.

"No. The best way to help would be to find somewhere safe." The urgency in his voice made Esca nod and run toward a building close by. Since Pietro had saved her life twice, she wanted to make his job a little easier.

Would he survive that battle? It was a scary thought—she admired that he was using whatever powers he obviously had to save the people of Sokovia, even as the city somehow floated in the sky.

Once she sheltered herself in the building, Esca tried to look for Pietro, if only to keep an eye on him. Unfortunately, he was already gone, undoubtedly fighting somewhere. She wished she could be fighting, too… Esca had never honed her powers the way she wished she might've. She'd tried for years, but all she could do was heal wounds.

But previous failure didn't stop her from trying now. When a man wielding a bow and a quiver of arrows appeared, fighting the robot monsters in the streets, Esca raised her hands and concentrated. She couldn't tell if her powers were working… she needed a robot to shoot at the man to see if they were.

As if the robot read her mind, it lunged toward the man—but its attack was rebuffed. The man looked astonished, but he got over his shock quickly and twisted the robot's head to the side. The artificial light in the robot's eyes dimmed, and Esca lowered her hands.

She grinned. It had worked.

That was when she realized the bowman was heading towards her.

"Are you all right?" he asked once he came close enough.

Esca nodded—he had no idea. She was never better. "Yes, I'm all right."

"Come with me. We have a way to get all the civilians off the city. Better hurry." He held out a hand to guide her into the streets, although he occasionally let go to shoot an arrow into an incoming robot. They continued down a couple blocks as the bowman exclaimed, "We have a helicopter getting people off the city! After that, we're going to destroy it!"

"Destroy it?" gasped Esca. She could hardly fathom it… Sokovia had been her home the past two years. Although she had not really grown attached to it, she was frightened by the unknown that would follow its demolition.

The bowman nodded. "That's what I said!" he grunted as he loosened another arrow. This particular arrow lodged itself in a robot's forehead before exploding. Then he seized her hand again and continued leading her to where the helicopter awaited.

Right as they rounded another corner, a monster struck out at the bowman. He yelled out in shock more than pain; he spiraled through the air. Seeing Esca standing, petrified, in front of the monster, he cried out, "Blondie! Duck!"

But Esca simply raised her hands and screamed. Without really meaning to, a shield enveloped over the monster and crushed it from the inside out. When she lowered her hands, there was nothing left.

Seeing what she had done, Esca gaped and stared at her hands. Maybe she had the power to fight after all?

The bowman stared, aghast, as he slowly walked forward. "You have powers?" he asked, dumbfounded.

She nodded. "I knew I could heal people's wounds… I only just discovered that I can crush magnetic robots too."

He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I knew there was something special about you, blondie," he chuckled. Then he gestured her onward; Esca followed. After another moment, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Esca," she replied. "Esca Rarity."

"Are you from around here, Esca Rarity?"

"I've lived here for the past two years," she explained. "I've had to relocate myself constantly the past decade or so…"

The bowman looked at her incredulously. "You can't be a day over twenty-one."

She grinned. "You're right. I'm not. I'm twenty years old, from London originally. But something happened, and I had to leave when I was ten. At any rate, I've told you who I am, what I can do, and where I'm from. Might I get your name in exchange?"

"Name's Clint Barton," grinned Clint, his blue eyes gleaming. "I'm part of this group called the Avengers—"

"I know who they are," giggled Esca. "So, Mr. Barton, who else is out here?"

"No need to address me so formally," chuckled Clint as he gazed over the scene. "Right now, we've got Dr. Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Thor, the Maximoff twins Wanda and Pietro, and—"

"Yours truly," said another voice behind them. Esca jumped at the suddenness of the new voice, but then she blushed upon seeing the easily recognizable costume of Captain America. Seeing that he had startled her, the Captain saluted her faintly. "Sorry about that, miss," he said, a small smile on his face. "The name's Steve Rogers."

"Esca," said Esca politely, shaking his outstretched hand.

Steve looked at Clint and smiled again. "I assume Clint found you?" he asked Esca, who nodded in response. Satisfied with her answer, the Captain then turned back to Clint. "Have you seen Banner anywhere? I haven't been in touch with him or Nat for a while…"

"I'm sure they'll turn up before long. They always do."

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but then there was mechanical whirring, and a large suit of armor plopped down on the sidewalk next to them. Esca stepped backward a little until she realized this must have been Tony Stark.

"I told you," declared Stark's voice petulantly. "They're playing hide the zucchini." He then seemed to realize Esca was standing amongst them. "Hello there. I don't know you," he added, pointing a finger at her direction.

Seeing the gesture, Steve raised an eyebrow. "Don't point, Stark, that's rude."

"Oh, wonderful. Are you going to criticize my manners now as well as my language?"

Captain America looked down at the ground, either extremely exasperated or stifling laughter. Esca figured that it was probably both.

As it was, she never got to find out, because Steve said, "Well, Miss Esca, we'd better get you aboard. I'll take her from here, Clint."

Clint nodded and walked over to a woman who was crying and pointing to something. He gazed back to where she was gesturing and inhaled sharply. "I'll be right back," he said to Steve. "Take care of blondie." Then he set off to where a little boy was trapped underneath some cinderblocks.

"Come on, Miss Esca," said Steve gently. "It's almost time to go."

Esca's gaze lingered on Clint for a spare second before nodding. "All right," she said. But just as she stepped his direction, there was a terrible rumbling throughout the place.

She whirled back around to see a jet shooting dozens of rapid bullets down toward Clint. A larger, more menacing robot was at the wheel of that jet, and out of the corner of her eye, Esca could see Pietro Maximoff running toward them, his power of super speed aiding him.

"No!" gasped Esca, and she raised her hands and thought, with all her might, of conjuring a large shield around the three.

The bullets were gone, as was the jet; a large, green creature had leapt upon it with a deafening roar and ejected the pilot. Meanwhile, Clint remained standing, the boy in his arms. Standing in front of them was Pietro, who had red wounds trailing his arms and legs. Even from so far away, Esca could hear him ask, "You didn't see that coming?"

Then he collapsed to the ground.

She gasped.

"Esca—" said Steve, trying to usher her toward the helicopter.

But he was too late. She was running toward them, toward Pietro. She couldn't have **_failed,_** not like that. He'd saved her life twice—she had to repay him.

She was running so fast, Esca had to drop to her knees to stop herself. Ignoring the jabs of pain as her knees were sliced open by the gravel, she quickly perused Pietro's injuries. Luckily, she had managed to shield his chest, stomach, neck, and face—but she hadn't been quick or strong enough to protect his arms or legs. There was also one stray bullet that was lodged in his side.

Pietro's eyes were open, blinking up at her, but they were somewhat glazed over. Noticing that he was conscious, Esca smiled down at him and said calmly, "It's all right, Pietro. You aren't going to leave us that easily. Listen to my voice, all right?"

He blinked once, which comforted her. At least he could hear her.

"I don't know if you can see me," she admitted, taking great care to keep her voice as gentle and soothing as possible. "But do you remember me? You pulled me out of the way of that train."

As she spoke, Esca carefully lifted his shirt so she could get at the bullet in his side. She looked at his face and saw him blink again, slowly, comprehendingly. She gestured for Clint to give her his knife—he silently handed it over. With great care, Esca used the blade to dig the bullet out of his side.

Pietro groaned, clenching his fists and teeth.

"Hey—hey," she exclaimed softly. "It's all right. That was the worst part, I promise. You saved my life today. Now I'm going to save yours."

* * *

Should I continue the story? Reviews would be welcomed. Beginnings are always my weakest point, so let me know if I did all right! :)


	2. Keep Your Eyes Open

Wow, thank you all for the positive feedback! I'd like to thank **Guardian of Heaven, Evangeline Pond, Marvel18, Savarra,** and my two wonderful **Guest** reviewers for their comments! A special thanks to all of you who favorited and followed the story as well! Your actions have confirmed that I'll continue the story! :)

All right, enough of my blabbing. Here's the next chapter... hope you enjoy!

* * *

As Clint carried the boy he had saved toward the helicopter, Steve remained to carry Pietro to the vehicle. Esca followed him, murmuring words of encouragement to Pietro the whole way.

"Get him to the medical bay of this flying… thing," she commanded. "I will need some things there."

Steve nodded and brought the two of them to the medical bay, although it was difficult because it was so crowded. Esca managed to part the crowd somewhat by declaring, "Out of the way, please! Everyone move!"

It was twenty minutes after Pietro had been impaled by the dozen bullets when at last they reached the medical bay. Steve carefully put Pietro on one of the white hospital-like beds as Esca rummaged through the drawers, found a needle, set up a bag of blood, and carefully inserted the needle into her vein.

"What are you doing?" asked Steve, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"He's losing too much blood. He will need a blood transfusion. I luckily have type O blood, so he will be able to accept mine." Once the bag was full, Esca kneeled beside Pietro and, with a new needle, carefully inserted it into his arm. "Are you still awake?" she asked.

He blinked again.

"Good," she sighed. "Stay awake for me. I'll do my best to help you… I'm not letting you die on me, not when I owe you such a big favor."

A hint of a smile overcame his face. Esca smiled as well before saying, "This is going to sound weird. You might not believe what I'm going to tell you, but it's true. I have powers too. I never got to tell you. I have a special ability that helps me heal people. The only problem is, I have to remove the bullets from some of the wounds first. I promise it won't hurt much… but you need to stay awake, all right?"

Pietro blinked again, his eyes containing a little more focus. Throughout the transfusion, Esca continued talking to him in an attempt to keep him awake. "I guess you're probably wondering how I found you," she said. As she withdrew more of her own blood to give him, Esca carefully angled the knife to extract another bullet from his arm. "Well, I found a building, like you told me to. Clint found me there and told me there was a way to get off the city."

He groaned slightly as Esca accidentally grazed his skin with the knife. "Sorry," she said quietly, not faltering from her work. "Anyway… I met Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark. I briefly saw Dr. Banner before he destroyed the jet with a large machine in it. I haven't met the others yet… but I've been told you have a twin sister. I hope I can meet her."

Esca then glanced at Steve, who was watching her work with an impressed fascination. "Do you know where Dr. Banner is?" she asked him.

Steve somberly shook his head. "I'll get in contact with the others to see if he's here."

"Good… I might need him."

With these words, Steve stepped out of the room, and Esca had finished gathering the bullets out of Pietro's arms. She checked on his progress; she needed to take his blood pressure before long.

"Do you know what the weirdest thing about my healing is?" she whispered. "I only have to sing to heal you." And she began the song she used whenever someone was hurt:

 _Please keep your eyes open_

 _Can you see the light?_

 _Will you walk towards it_

 _Or give to the night?_

 _Please keep your eyes open_

 _Can you hear my song?_

 _I promise you now_

 _You can sleep before long._

As she sang, the circular wounds began to close, right in front of Esca's eyes. Encouraged, she repeated the song, keeping her eyes on Pietro. His face started to regain color, and the glazed look over his eyes started to dissipate. He blinked again, and suddenly it was clear that he was looking straight at her.

Esca smiled at him, but when he tried to raise his head, she quietly shushed him and gently laid him back down. "You are tired and in great need of sleep," she murmured. "Do not strain yourself."

He opened his mouth to say something, but she chided him lightly, "That classifies as straining yourself, Pietro Maximoff. I'm officially prescribing you some rest, healer's orders. Now sleep." Though she was commanding, Esca made sure to keep her voice calm.

Pietro frowned, ready to refuse, but Esca insisted that he needed rest. Within the following hour, she finished removing whatever bullets had lodged themselves in his legs. Pietro had fallen asleep.

Once she was certain her work was done, Esca rose with a tired sigh. Healing always took a good amount of her energy, though she didn't want to sleep just in case Pietro would need her. When she stood up, she was face-to-face with Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Clint Barton, all of whom had apparently been watching her work.

Seeing that he had been caught red-handed, Steve flushed at her raised eyebrow. After a moment, he said, "That was something to watch, miss."

Esca smiled at his old-fashioned formality. "Thank you, Captain. But please, feel free to call me Esca."

"Only if you call me Steve," replied Steve, a smirk tugging at his lips.

She laughed. "That sounds fair."

Before anyone could say another word, a girl's voice screamed from outside the room. All four whirled around—a woman was staring through the glass walls and into the room.

The woman practically wrestled herself through the three men, scrambling towards Pietro, leaning over him and crying his name. Based on her concern for him, Esca guessed that this must've been his twin sister.

She was proven right when Clint walked over to her and said, "Wanda—it's all right." He emulated Esca's tactic of talking calmly as he continued, "He'll be fine. Blondie here—I mean, Esca—is healing him."

Wanda took a deep breath before facing Esca. Her face was lined with tears that made neat paths through the dirt and grime accumulated on her face. Her brown hair was matted down with blood or sweat or both, and her brown eyes were filled with an indescribable concern. She blinked before speaking. "Are you Esca?"

Esca nodded. Wanda swiftly rose and placed a hand on her arm. "Thank you… so much… for helping him. How—how did you do it?"

"It's a long story," replied Esca, her face darkening. It was a long story indeed, and not one she wanted to go into at that time. "For now, let's just say that I have powers too."

The other woman seemed to understand the reason behind Esca's reluctance. As it was, she only smiled and thanked her again before sitting next to her brother, her hand on his face as if daring to hope that he would wake up.

"He will be awake in twenty-four hours," said Esca. The others turned and looked at her funnily. She shrugged. "It's how long it takes whenever I heal someone. It's never been different before."

They seemed to accept this answer gladly—it was Clint who stepped forward and said, "You should sleep too, Esca. You look exhausted, and it's been a long day."

She chuckled somewhat before retorting, "My day has been quite short compared to the one you must be having. It is you four who should rest, not I."

"You heard the lady, I'm taking a nap," announced Tony. He had taken off his suit of iron armor and lay down on one of the beds… but not even a second afterward, he leapt back up again. "No use. Insomnia," he clarified to Esca, who had raised an eyebrow.

"Lie back down, Mr. Stark," commanded Esca. "I can help you fall asleep. In fact, I can do the same for the rest of you."

"Ugh, you're so dreadfully polite," groaned Tony. "Just call me Tony." He winked at her afterward, but lay back down as Esca had commanded. Seeing that even Tony was obeying her, Wanda, Steve, and Clint all found a place to rest.

Seeing that they were doing as she asked, Esca smiled and began to tell a story about a little girl who spent her whole life traveling the world, pretending she was an adventurer to escape her inner demons. She used her willpower behind her voice to make the others sleepy and smiled as Steve tried to cover up a yawn, as Clint's head lolled around his shoulders, as Wanda lay next to her brother and closed her eyes.

Once they were all asleep, Esca sat down and smiled to herself. She was glad she was able to help these people who'd saved her life… though it was only a little favor, she still liked being useful.

Esca looked back at Pietro again. He was sleeping peacefully, and she thought of their brief exchange earlier. With a start, she realized that she had never told him her name… Perhaps that would be something she could tell him later.

But then she thought: just because she met the Avengers didn't mean she would be welcome among them for long. With a small sigh, Esca realized that wherever this helicopter was going, she would need to establish a new life there, because her old home was gone.

She glanced at the sleeping Avengers at her feet and tried to resist grinning. They weren't so powerful or intimidating when they were asleep.

The future was a problem for tomorrow. For now, Esca wanted to make sure they would all be okay.


	3. Coffee, Nicknames, and Blood Types

Hey, guys! Before this chapter begins, I'd like to thank **Marvel18, inugirl2469, Alicecreed1010, Zoe912,** and **Guardian of Heaven** for their reviews! You're the bomb (dot com). Also, a special shout-out to all who've followed and favorited. Buy yourselves homemade cookies 'cause you're amazing. :)

All right... I now have a question for you all. I saw AoU again last night (in 3-D whoo!) and I have heard that a lot of people are questioning the Brutasha ship... I'm curious to see what's popular and what's not! If you'd like, leave in a review or PM me about what you personally ship (with or without Natasha), if you ship at all! I'm just wondering, myself. I'll tell you all what I think is amazing in the intro to Chapter 5!

Thanks so much for putting up with my rambling! Enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

Twelve hours later, the helicopter landed in New York City. While the majority of the citizens had been deposited at the town closest to Sokovia, Esca chose to remain on the helicopter with the Avengers. Although she didn't wish to burden them or follow them around like a lost puppy, she wanted to make sure Pietro would be all right.

By the time the flying vehicle had landed in New York, Steve and Clint were awake. Wanda was diligently watching over her brother. Tony was still conked out. Although Esca didn't want to wake him, there wasn't much choice.

"Wake up, Tony," said Esca, gently shaking his shoulder. "We're in New York."

"Go Yankees," he mumbled; then he yawned and hopped up. "Coffee."

Steve looked amused; Clint nodded and repeated, "Coffee."

Esca too was exhausted and ready for a pick-me-up. Unlike the others, she had not let herself fall asleep, just in case something happened and she needed to be awake for Pietro. She was nothing short of determined to make sure he was well. Then she noticed a sign down the street. "Starbucks?" asked Esca, pointing at the store.

Instantly, Clint and Tony perked up. They glanced at Esca before exchanging looks and announcing simultaneously, "Starbucks." Then they drowsily ambled down the street.

Esca looked back at Wanda. "Wanda, do you want to come get something to drink?"

The woman only shook her head. "No, thank you."

Esca shrugged. "Very well, we'll come back soon. If you change your mind, we'll be at Starbucks." And then she and Steve went after the staggering Tony and the yawning Clint.

Within ten minutes, the four were sitting at a table. Though Clint was now awake and happily drinking his beverage, Tony was still a zombie as he dazedly sipped his macchiato. For a while, all was silent as Esca silently stirred her caramel latte, Steve contentedly drank a cup of water, Clint checked his phone, and Tony struggled to wake up a little more.

At last, however, Steve broke the silence. "How's your coffee, Miss Esca?"

She smiled at the timid respect in Steve's tone and replied, "It's quite strong, actually… I don't recall drinking coffee like this where I've lived."

"You aren't from around here," Clint recalled. "I almost forgot. Don't know how I could've, what with your accent."

Esca blinked. "Who's to say **_you_** don't have an accent, Mr. Barton?"

Clint held up his hands in surrender, although he was grinning at her feistiness. "It was just an observation. But the fact that you are unaccustomed to Starbucks is practically proof that you haven't lived in America before."

This made her smile. "In that assumption, you are right. I've never been to this country before. It's… nice, and impressive, but very busy. I don't believe I have the right word for it…"

"Overwhelming?" suggested Steve, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. "That's precisely it."

That was when Tony jolted up and exclaimed, "How can you not like strong coffee?"

His somniferous appearance made Esca laugh. "You misunderstand me, Mr. Stark. I enjoy it, but I believe it is something of an acquired taste."

A certain light lit Tony's eyes, and he mumbled lowly, "I know just the thing to help you adjust. How about I gave you a little sugar?"

Esca blinked, not quite sure what he meant by this comment, and was about to turn to Steve for assistance when Tony grabbed her coffee cup, ripped open a package of Splenda, and poured the contents into her drink. He did this a second time before gesturing to the cup and declaring, "Drink it."

She hesitantly took the cup and glanced at it. At Tony's encouraging nod, however, she sipped it. And he was right—it **_did_** taste better. With a small smile, she proceeded to drink it until it was halfway gone. With a small laugh, she said, "You were right, Mr. Stark. This is more to my taste."

"What have I said about you calling me Mr. Stark, blondie?" asked Tony, rolling his eyes.

She raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I chose to ignore you. And for the record, my name is not blondie."

"Well, you **_are_** blonde," murmured Clint, gazing at her from his coffee.

"And I could just as easily call you Legolas," she retorted swiftly, earning a chuckle from Steve.

Clint, however, just grinned. "I would take that as a compliment. Thank you, blondie."

Esca groaned in exasperation, much to Steve's penchant. Instead of engaging in more nickname battles, however, she finished her drink and declared, "I should return to the Maximoff twins to check on Pietro."

"Hold on, now, we haven't gotten a nickname for Rogers or I yet," pouted Tony in a childish manner. "I won't leave this chair until I get a nickname."

His behavior made Esca grin helplessly. As she began to think of what to call Tony and Steve, she sighed, as it was harder than she'd expected. At last, however, she figured she found it. "All right, no need to be pushy, Rust Bucket."

Tony blinked for a moment before bursting into laughter. "That's good," he chuckled, pointing at her. "Very good! I like her!"

Steve sighed and lowered Tony's finger, as Tony had been pointing at Esca again.

Esca, however, just giggled and said, "It's all right, Old-Fashioned. As it is, it's rather good that Rust Bucket likes me, because that's where Pietro is, and I'd like to make sure he's well before I leave."

"Feel free to come back to Stark Tower," said Tony, a lopsided grin on his face. Then he chuckled again. "Rust Bucket. That's good, if only because it's so wrong. Nobody beats my suit."

"I'm sure no one does, Tony," said Esca, reverting to seriousness. "As it is, I really must return to Stark Tower. Thank you for the company, Steve, Tony, Clint."

Steve smiled and pulled out her chair as she stood up, which made her smile a little. He certainly was from the forties. "We will escort you there, Esca."

"You dropped the 'miss,'" she teased. "So much for old-fashioned, huh?"

"Guess I grew out of it, **_blondie,_** " grinned Steve, which made her laugh. Then he gently put a hand on her shoulder before leading her out of the shop, Clint and Tony following.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tony was leading Esca to the medical bay, where Wanda was kneeling next to Pietro. When Wanda saw Esca approaching, she asked, "Has it been twenty-four hours yet?"

Esca smiled somewhat. "Not yet. Give it a few more hours… I don't know exactly how much time has elapsed, but I will wait with you until he wakes up."

The woman nodded, gently pushing Pietro's hair away from his face. Seeing this, Esca smiled—she figured it must be nice to have a sibling that one loved more than anything.

Hours passed: Steve dropped by and offered Wanda and Esca some books. Though Esca gladly took one, Wands declined, choosing instead to take a nap. Esca, however, didn't sleep. She knew Pietro could wake at any moment, and she wanted to be awake herself when he did.

As it was, when nighttime rolled around and he still did not wake, Esca was concerned. She was certain it had been twenty-four hours… she took Pietro's temperature: normal.

Then she took his blood pressure.

She restrained a gasp—it was much too low to be normal.

Even though Wanda was trying to sleep, Esca needed the light to see. So she turned it on, hoping she wouldn't wake the other woman, and rushed back to Pietro. With the light, she noticed what she had failed to notice before.

His lips were blue. Esca's face paled; she carefully put two fingers on the inside of his wrist. She could barely find a pulse; it was weak, but very fast.

Esca gasped and rushed to find another needle. Despite the half-liter of blood that she had given him six hours ago, he was suffering from hypovolemic shock.

That was when she realized—he had **_powers._** Of **_course_** he'd need more blood than a normal human, his metabolism must be ridiculously high! And he'd been **_shot_** a dozen times!

Esca scolded herself as she practically jabbed the needle into her arm. She needed to supply Pietro with more blood; she reached for the telephone, muttering to herself, "How do I contact Tony?!"

"Shall I page Mr. Stark for you?" asked a female voice from the ceiling, which made Esca jump and shriek.

Wanda woke up—seeing Esca's pale face and hurried state, she jumped up and looked at her brother. "What's going on?!" she questioned, almost screaming.

"Nothing, Wanda, nothing that I cannot help him through," said Esca, keeping her voice calm, although she was not quite sure she was being truthful. In worst cases, hypovolemic shock could be fatal. Then she remembered the disembodied voice from the ceiling. "Yes, please, get him or Steve Rogers."

"I shall contact them, miss," said the voice. Esca figured it was some sort of intercom that sensed whenever Tony was needed, and she thought nothing more of it as she continued withdrawing blood.

Steve and Tony were in the room in just a couple minutes. "What is it?" asked Steve.

"I need to know where Dr. Banner is," replied Esca. "Also, I need to know what your blood types are."

"I'm blood type B, and Banner has been missing for the past day," said Tony through a mouthful of peanuts. Seeing Esca's distress, he held out the bag of peanuts to her. "Peanut?" he offered amicably.

"No, I'm drawing my blood right now," she answered irately. "Steve, do you know your blood type?"

"I have no clue," he answered, shrugging.

"Wanda, do you know your blood type?"

"I do. I am AB."

Esca sighed. She didn't know what Pietro's blood type was, so she didn't know if any of their blood was compatible with his. She didn't know how to perform a blood type test, or, even if she could get it right, how to diagnose the results of the test. That was why she had been hoping to locate Dr. Banner—surely he would know. In a last ditch attempt, she asked, "Do any of you know how to conduct a blood type test?"

Tony shook his head. "Sorry, blondie. I'm more chemistry, robotics, physics, and astrophysics. Biology is not my forte."

Steve looked utterly nonplussed. "What's a blood type test?"

Wanda shook her head too.

There was no other choice. Esca had to keep withdrawing her own blood, never mind what it might do to her, to save Pietro's life.

An hour passed. Once another half-liter was gathered, Esca hooked up the bag to Pietro before withdrawing more blood from herself. Seeing what she was doing, Steve rushed forward and exclaimed, "Esca, stop! You're going to lose too much blood!"

"I can lose up to forty percent of my blood, Steve," replied Esca calmly. "That is approximately two and a quarter liters. I hope I will not have to go to such measures, but I will do so if necessary. I am a healer, after all."

"Perhaps, but you don't need to be a martyr," said Steve.

"He saved my life twice today. The least I can do is give my blood to save his," replied Esca, watching the thick red liquid drain up the IV. "I will not give up now."

Three more hours passed, and Esca had drained another liter of blood. That was two liters that she'd withdrawn in total, and her hands were shaking and her vision was cloudy and she felt godawful. But Pietro's lips were no longer blue, his pulse was stronger and not as fast, and his blood pressure was returning to normal levels.

Once the last of the blood was injected into his system, Esca gasped and stumbled drunkenly to the bedside. Her eyelids were threatening to close—it was harder, now more than ever, to remain awake. "There," she murmured. "I think… he'll be all right… now."

Just as she spoke, his eyes opened. He blinked once before asking faintly, "Are… you…?"

"You're awake," gasped Esca. That was all she needed to know. She let her lightheadedness take over, and she collapsed to the floor.


	4. Her Name Is Esca Rarity

Wow, I'm quite overwhelmed by all the positive comments to the story! Thank you all so much, especially **SirAvery, Guardian of Heaven, Alicecreed1010, Motoko The Red Queen, Marvel 18, d0ct0rwh0l0ckf4n, Tanley662, Savarra, Saint of the Sinners,** **Amy** , **Hannah,** and my three **Guest** reviewers! You guys make me very excited to keep updating... And to all my followers and favoritors, I love you guys too! Everyone go get yourself a miniature Avenger pop (or whatever those things are called) because you're amazing!

Don't forget to tell me about your Natasha ships (if any)! I'm curious about what fabulous people like yourselves think...

Hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks so much for reading! :)

* * *

Pietro stared, dumbfounded, as the blonde girl he'd saved earlier crashed to the floor. Her eyes were closed, and she had hit her head on the table when she fell, so a small trail of blood ran down her forehead.

He tried to leap up and make sure she was okay, but his legs wouldn't respond. He growled and tried again, but then he realized it wasn't just his unresponsive legs, it was a needle in his arm hooked up to a bag of blood. Pietro was about to take the needle out of him when his sister's voice shrieked, "No, stop!"

Shocked by Wanda's urgency, he turned towards her. Her face was pale as she shivered and exclaimed, "She said you'd been under hypo… hypovolemic shock. You need her blood."

Pietro blinked. " ** _Her_** blood?" he asked faintly, staring down at the girl. Steve Rogers was picking her up and putting her on one of the beds beside him, a concerned look on his face.

"Yes," replied his sister. She grasped his hand as if she knew how guilty he felt. He didn't know how much blood he had needed, but it was enough to knock her unconscious. "Yes, she was the only one who could donate without there being any repercussions."

He stared at the girl, wondering what had inspired her to save his life and risk her own like that. Although it was foolish, he couldn't help but admire her resolve. She had guts.

He remembered when she'd asked if she could help kill Ultron's robots too. There had been a questioning look on her face, as if she doubted herself when she asked this. Pietro figured that with a little training, she would easily learn how to shoot a gun; she seemed to learn quickly. At any rate, she was quite the healer. He would've died without her.

"Pietro?" asked his sister, and he turned back to her. He was so relieved to see that she was alive as well—he tightened his grip on her hand, as if to make sure she was really there. He didn't know what he would've done if she had died. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Relatively well," he replied. But then he glared at his legs and the IV. "Although I'd **_like_** to get up."

"Not an option, soldier," said Rogers, who was kneeling over the blonde girl's bedside. She looked peaceful; Pietro hoped she was just sleeping, and not in pain. "You're going to need to stay here for a night or two."

Stark sauntered over and held out a silver bag to Pietro. "Peanut?"

Pietro raised an eyebrow and smirked a little. "No thanks, I'm good."

"How about an orange?"

At this, Pietro chuckled. "No thank you. I'm not hungry."

"Come on, you've got to eat something," insisted Stark, placing the bag of peanuts on the counter. "Something with iron. You've probably lost a lot of that—or maybe some Vitamin C? That helps absorb iron, which would probably be good for you right now."

Rogers stood up and crossed his arms. "I thought you said biology wasn't your forte."

"This isn't biology, Capsicle, this is anatomy, which is **_also_** my forte." With that, Stark sauntered over to the fridge and peered inside. "Let's see, we've got milk, some cereal in the pantry, pineapple, an orange, whatever is in the kitchen… Whether you like it or not, Quicksilver, you're getting something to eat."

"Quicksilver?" asked Wanda before Pietro could. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Without looking at them, Stark waved his hand dismissively. "It's a nickname. Like blondie over there. That's what Barton and I call her. She got us pretty good, though. She called me Rust Bucket." With that, Stark began to laugh, which made the Maximoff twins exchange incredulous looks. Usually, if someone insulted his suit, he would punch them into oblivion.

Rogers just smiled and shook his head. "She only called you that because you insisted on getting a nickname."

"She gave Barton a cool nickname. She called him Legolas. I wanted a cool nickname."

Pietro stifled a laugh both at Stark's childishness, and at the blonde girl's quick wits. He looked at her again. Rogers was standing over her protectively, as if he felt personally responsible for her recovery. As they gazed at her, however, she moaned and turned over, yawning into the pillow.

Rogers smiled and pulled the blanket up over her. "She'll be all right," he declared. "She just needs some sleep. She hasn't gotten any the past twenty-four hours…"

"Yeah, I'm surprised she managed to hold out that long," replied Stark, his mouth full of pineapple chunks. He held out the bowl to Pietro. "Want some?"

Knowing that he would never get any rest until he ate something, Pietro sighed and grabbed the bowl. Stark tossed him a fork, but Pietro didn't immediately eat. Something Rogers had said captured his attention. "What do you mean, she hasn't slept in twenty-four hours?"

Rogers smiled guiltily, as if realizing he shouldn't have said that. "Well, she was… determined to make sure everyone got some sleep. But she wanted to stay awake in case we needed her."

Pietro glared down at the pineapple. He felt bad for burdening the girl like that. He remembered that he'd never gotten her name, and he was about to ask—but then he didn't. He wanted **_her_** to tell him.

Stark walked over and clapped a hand on Pietro's shoulder, which made him wince a little. "Sorry," said Stark, but then he added, "Don't worry too much. She's tough. She's got promise. Maybe Romanoff can train her up a bit, and she can stay here with us for a while. After all, we **_did_** destroy her home. She'd be welcome here as she adjusts."

That made everyone smile. Pietro too liked this idea—although he saved her twice, the girl had risked herself to save him. Maybe he could make it up to her during the time she was at Stark Tower.

Something by the floor caught his eye. It looked like a book. "What's that?" he asked.

Rogers followed his gaze and picked up the text. He smiled as he looked at it. "I brought this for her to read while she was here. It's Charles Dickens' _A Tale of Two Cities._ " With that, he held it out for Pietro to look at. There was a blue ribbon in the book that acted as a bookmark—he remembered it had been in the girl's hair. She had kept her hair back with it when they'd met in Sokovia. The bookmark was about halfway through the novel.

"Avid reader," said Wanda, smiling a little. "She was very nice to me."

Pietro decided that he liked the girl—she had been kind to his sister. And she had saved his life, which was also admittedly important. She seemed to enjoy the classics, too, so she was probably very intelligent. She'd had an accent when she'd talked.

He also remembered that she could sing.

He tried to remember what the girl had sung, but he couldn't. He had been half awake, struggling to look at her as she removed the bullets from underneath his skin. Her voice had kept his eyes open, but it also made him want to sleep more than ever. He wondered if she would sing again.

Before long, everyone declared it was time to get some sleep, seeing as it was almost midnight. Although Stark offered the girl a guest room, Rogers said he didn't want to move her in case she woke up.

"She'll be all right here, won't she, Maximoff?" asked Rogers, glancing at Pietro.

He nodded. "Yeah, that'll be fine. Don't wake her up—she needs the rest."

Rogers seemed to agree; he told everyone goodnight before exiting, Stark following. Wanda tightly squeezed his hand. "If you need anything, call me, okay?"

"Thanks, Wanda," murmured Pietro. His sister could be extremely motherly.

"And I mean anything," she retorted, forcing him to look into her eyes. "I don't care if you feel so much as a pinprick—I want to know about it."

That made him laugh. "Relax, Wanda, I'll be all right. This is like the time I got the chicken pox when we were eight. You worried over me more than our mother did."

Wanda smirked a little, declaring, "Sometimes, it is my job." Then she kissed his hand and said, "Goodnight, Pietro."

"Goodnight."

He watched her leave—she smiled at him through the glass. Then she was gone.

Once he was alone, Pietro gazed at the sleeping blonde girl. He wondered when she'd wake up… probably not until morning. But he wasn't tired at all since he'd just slept for a full day himself. To keep himself occupied, he looked at _A Tale of Two Cities_ and decided to read it.

Half of the three hours he spent reading the text, Pietro wasn't quite sure what was going on. He knew it was a classic, but in all honesty, he'd had more to worry about than books in the past, what with him and his sister being experimented on, and their revenge plot for Stark that incidentally never happened.

Just then, Pietro heard the girl yawn. He tried not to make it look like he'd been monitoring her progress by quickly opening the book and pretending to read it.

He didn't look at her again, but he heard her rise. Then, her voice asked, "You are still awake?"

Pietro finally set the book down, as if he'd only just now noticed she woke up. "Yes… it's good to see that you are awake as well. You gave everyone quite a fright."

She flushed. "It was the only way to help you."

"Why did you do it?"

She looked at him incredulously. "You saved my life twice yesterday. The least I could do was return the favor."

Her indignation made him smile. "Well, thank you," he said. "Although you could've asked for help."

"I tried," she said helplessly. "Dr. Banner has been missing the past few days, and I didn't know your blood type… I knew my blood didn't carry a risk because I'm type O, and I couldn't risk incompatible blood since you were under hypovolemic shock—"

"You've lost me," smirked Pietro. "Unlike you, I'm not a doctor."

The girl grinned a bit shyly and replied, "I'm no doctor. I'm only a healer. I've done some research in my spare time, just so I know what I'm doing when I help people."

"So you've done this before."

"Not often," she answered. But Pietro noticed something strange with her answer. He could tell she was holding something back—but he didn't want to pressure her on it. As it was, she was just about to say something else when she was forced to stifle another yawn. Pietro couldn't help but smirk a little; apparently, she needed more sleep.

The girl flushed, seeing his expression. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I don't know if I'm quite recuperated yet. Perhaps morning will be better for us both."

He nodded. "That seems logical."

She smiled again and crawled back underneath the blanket of the white bed—but then, Pietro remembered something he'd wanted to ask her. "I never got your name."

The girl rolled over and faced him. "Esca," she sighed, her eyes already closing. "Esca Rarity."

Then she was asleep.

Pietro looked at her for another moment, at Esca Rarity. He smiled to himself; she had a nice name. He hoped Esca Rarity would stick around Stark Tower for a while—although he'd only just met her, he knew he'd enjoy the opportunity to befriend her.


	5. The Bet

Hello again, all! I hope it isn't too quick to post another chapter... I just got too excited when I wrote this and wanted to post it sooner rather than later. As always, special thanks to **Tiryn, Savarra, Marvel18, SirAvery, Tanley662,** and my **Guest** for reviewing! Another huge thanks to those of you who are following and favoriting! Go make yourself a cup of tea and cuddle in bed and do whatever the crap you want!

Just a quick announcement: I have a poll on my profile that I'd love for you all to look at! Feel free to answer it, please! :)

Enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

When Esca woke up the following morning, she was greeted with a, "Morning, Esca Rarity," and the smell of bacon and eggs.

This made her stretch and blink. She saw Pietro standing carelessly against the wall, as if he'd been looking out the window. "What are you doing!" she gasped. "Are you all right? Have you already regained movement in your legs?!"

He snickered at her wide eyes. "I feel fine, no need to worry."

"I do nonetheless," she retorted, crossing her arms and standing up as well. Her eyes fell upon the plate of breakfast that was carefully set at the edge of her bed. "What's this?"

Pietro looked at where she was glancing and exclaimed, "Ah, that. Steve Rogers made us breakfast. He's a pretty good cook."

Esca smiled at both Steve's kind gesture and at Pietro's comment. "I'll be the judge of that, I think," she teased, and then she began to eat. As she did, she figured Pietro was in fact correct—Steve **_was_** a good cook. Unfortunately, as Steve wasn't in the practice of drinking it himself, there was no coffee.

And coffee was an essential part of Esca's mornings. With a smile, she looked out the window. Another Starbucks was just around the corner. "I'm going to get some coffee," said Esca. "Would you like me to bring you anything?"

"Nah, but thank you," replied Pietro.

"Are you sure? Starbucks' lattes are to die for."

He just shook his head and replied, "Thanks again, but I'm all right."

Esca sighed—were she, Clint, and Tony the only **_normal_** people who actually **_drank_** coffee? But she shook off the thought and declared, "I'll be right back, then. Stay here—don't strain yourself too much. You might not be strong enough for that yet."

He only smirked and muttered, "We'll see about that," before she exited the room and took the elevator to the common area. When she arrived, she saw Steve and Clint sitting around the counter.

When they saw her approach, both offered a greeting. Esca smiled at them and said to Steve, "Thank you for breakfast, Steve. It was delicious, and very kind of you."

"Happy to help," replied Steve, a smile on his face.

"I'll have to repay the favor tonight," mused Esca. "If I'm allowed to remain here for another day, I'll cook tonight."

"You're welcome for however long you'd like, Esca," assured Clint, raising a glass of orange juice as if to toast her.

That made her smile. "That's wonderful to hear, Clint. At any rate, seeing as you two are the only ones here, I'll ask what you'd like for dinner tonight. Do you like French food, German, Italian, Indian? I can't do Mexican, so you're out of luck if you want burritos…"

"Who's talking about food?" asked Tony Stark's voice. Within another second, he emerged from around the corner, his eyes wide as he peeked into the common area. Seeing the three assembled, he asked Esca, "Was that you I heard talking food?"

She giggled. "It was. I was asking these two what they'd like me to cook for dinner tonight."

"You **_cook_**?" gasped Tony. With these words, he rushed forward, threw an arm around Esca's shoulder, and declared, "That's it. You're never leaving. You are automatically my new best friend, and best friends don't leave each other's Towers without cooking French cuisines."

Esca couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Very well, Tony, I shall cook French food tonight. I hope that's all right with you two?" This was asked towards Steve and Clint, both of whom nodded agreeably. Seeing this, she smiled again and exclaimed, "So it's settled. Now Tony, let me go! I have a date with another Starbucks coffee."

At her request, Tony removed his arm from around Esca's shoulder—with a grin, she waved farewell before exiting the Tower for Starbucks.

Another five minutes passed, as Esca was very hesitant in crossing the bustling street. It was like the cars would never stop arriving! Eventually, she simply ran through them in order to get her coffee, because she was already suffering from caffeine withdrawal.

When Esca entered the shop, however, her eyes narrowed. "I thought I told you to stay at Stark Tower," she sighed.

Pietro shrugged and grinned sideways at her. "You did. I just chose not to listen."

Esca moved towards the barista, who was patiently waiting for her order. Before she could say anything to him, however, Pietro added, "I can't believe you thought I wouldn't be able to walk across the street to a coffee shop."

"You had been shot a dozen times," retorted Esca, glaring at Pietro out of the corner of her eye.

He smirked. "Maybe so, but you healed me."

"I did, and it took me five hours to get all the bullets out of you, **_not_** including the extra three hours I spent giving you **_my_** blood so you wouldn't die from hypovolemic shock," she added calmly, pretending to peruse the Starbucks' menu. But then she turned to Pietro and smirked. "I've probably seen more of you than your girlfriend has."

This comment made him raise an eyebrow. "The joke is on you, Esca Rarity. I don't have a girlfriend."

"My point exactly."

The barista snorted, then instantly covered his mouth with his hand. Esca shot him a gratified grin as Pietro just glared at Esca and muttered, "I liked you better when you were singing."

Esca pretended not to hear this and said to the barista, "One caramel latte, please."

"Coming right up, miss," said the boy. He couldn't have been older than eighteen, and his face was somewhat pink, perhaps from restraining laughter at Esca's and Pietro's banter.

As the boy prepared Esca's drink, she turned back to Pietro and raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, what **_are_** you doing here, Pietro? I thought you didn't want coffee."

"Maybe I wanted to prove to you that I don't need bedrest," he announced haughtily, crossing his arms. Seeing Esca's expression, however, he added, "Or maybe I just wanted to meet you here and buy you a drink, since you saved my life."

"To be fair, you saved mine twice."

"But I didn't almost sacrifice myself to save you."

"Maybe not, but you almost died to save thousands of other people."

"Are you **_this_** determined to undermine yourself?" asked Pietro, astounded. "At Sokovia, you sounded so eager to fight, to help us, to be a hero. But now that you've done something heroic, you're downplaying your action, as if you don't want to be recognized. Why is that, Esca Rarity? You're an enigma."

Seeing his honestly curious expression, Esca sighed. "It's complicated."

"Hence the word 'enigma,'" grinned Pietro. Seeing that she was attempting to restrain a laugh, he grinned. "Look at that. It only took me three days to make her laugh."

"Congratulations," replied Esca, grinning despite herself. But she knew she couldn't become too close to Pietro. If she did, he might see what she'd gone through, who she really was, what she'd really done. They would never be friends if he knew—in fact, neither Steve nor Tony nor Clint would want to be friends with her if **_they_** knew, too.

Realizing this, Esca forced the smile off her face. Then, she said somberly, "In all honesty, I don't laugh at much. It's hard for me to get close enough to people so they make me laugh."

Pietro looked surprised and thoughtful as the barista came back and handed Esca her drink. When she reached into her wallet to grab the money, however, he gently placed a hand atop hers and said, "I got it."

Then he pulled out a five dollar bill, said, "Keep whatever is left," to the barista, and turned back to Esca, the thoughtful look still on his face. "You know," he said, "What you've just said has provided me a challenging opportunity."

"How so?"

"Well, if you've never had close friends before, you've obviously not let yourself be open around them. I think I'm going to offer you a bet to have the honor of becoming your friend."

"We're already friends," grinned Esca.

"Acquaintances, more like," corrected Pietro, though he was smiling still. "But I'd **_like_** to become better friends. If, however, that is to happen, I need to know more about you."

Esca sighed and gripped her coffee tightly. She glanced around—the barista was serving another customer, but otherwise the store was empty. Comforted, she waved towards one of the tables and replied, "All right. I'll tell you a bit about myself, if you continue to be insistent."

That made Pietro laugh—they sat at one of the tables, where he asked, "So where are you really from? I can tell you aren't American, based on your accent."

"You know, you're the second person in two days who's commented on that," chastised Esca playfully. " ** _You've_** got an accent too, Pietro." He laughed; she smiled again and said, "But you are right. I'm not American at all. I was born in London, and I lived there until I was six. Then I was moved to Russia—three years later, I was moved to Germany. Then I ran to France for three years, Switzerland for two, and ultimately Sokovia for another two years. And now I'm here."

Pietro watched her carefully as she spoke, and then he said, "I'm guessing your experiences in Russia and Germany weren't pleasant."

Esca blinked. "How—why would you think that?"

"You said you were **_moved_** to Russia and Germany. And when you mentioned France, you said you ran," remarked Pietro mildly. "That indicates you weren't very happy."

She swallowed and was silent.

Noting that Esca had clammed up, Pietro quickly added, "It's all right if you don't want to tell me. Anyway, you seemed happy mentioning France…"

Esca nodded and took the opportunity. "France was my favorite place. I'm fluent in French thanks to my time there. While I never set eyes on the Eiffel Tower, I hope to return one day, go to Paris, and see what I could not as a child."

Pietro noticed that she was giving up more details of her past by her declaration of "as a child." But this time, he did not mention it. Instead, he asked, "How did you feel about Switzerland?"

"It was beautiful," sighed Esca. "There were dozens of mountain ranges and forests… I hiked throughout the country a lot. I wish I could show you what it was like. It truly was lovely."

"Like you," declared Pietro, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in his chair.

Hearing this, Esca flushed. "You are too kind, Pietro," she murmured. She tried to hide her pink cheeks by taking a drink from her coffee. She'd never been complimented so **_casually_** like that… Actually, she hadn't been complimented like that since Germany, and the compliments she had received there didn't make her feel good like Pietro's just had. She shivered, remembering Germany.

Luckily, Pietro didn't see that. He appeared lost in thought for a moment before chuckling. Esca heard it and asked, "What is it?"

"I've just remembered my bet," he declared, leaning forward. "I'm changing it a little. My terms stand thus: I have a joke for you. If you laugh, you have to get dinner with me sometime. If you don't, I promise I won't bother you again."

"Oh—" gasped Esca. On one hand, she didn't want to get too close to Pietro, in case he would end up knowing who she really was. On the other, she liked the opportunity to befriend him. "You aren't bothering me—you aren't!" she exclaimed at Pietro's sideways grin. "I just—oh, never mind. You must be very confident with this joke if you think it will make me laugh."

"Oh, I am," he promised, intertwining his hands as if plotting. "Here it is. What is the best thing about living in Switzerland?"

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but the flag is a big plus," answered Pietro, smirking.

For a moment, Esca simply stared at him. But then she realized—the Switzerland flag **_literally_** had a plus sign on it. Although she attempted to keep a straight face, she couldn't restrain her grin. She felt something bubbling in her throat and realized, just before it emerged, that it was a **_laugh._**

And then she laughed, and she wasn't able to stop, the joke was so stupid it was **_funny._**

"Got you," murmured Pietro. He had been watching her with his hands folded, but when he spoke, he moved them to reveal he was grinning. "Looks like you owe me a date."

Esca took a moment to stop laughing and breathe—once that was done, she said, "It looks like I do." Then, with a ridiculous grin on her face, she sighed, " ** _God,_** Pietro. That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

He only chuckled and said, "That's what I was counting on. Does tomorrow sound good for you?"

"It does," she replied. "Anyway, I'm making dinner tonight for everyone in Stark Tower. I'll be able to introduce you to a little piece of France. Tony has requested I make French food."

With that, they left the Starbucks, Pietro still grinning with his success and Esca muttering, "I cannot believe you made me laugh at that," as they went.


	6. Dinner and a Show

Hello again, wonderful readers! Sorry I didn't get to update yesterday... I had a long shift at work. :( But now I'm back, and I have a new chapter! Yay! As always, special thanks to **Motoko The Red Queen, Alicecreed1010, Saint of the Sinners, Marvel18, Tanley662,** and my great **Guest** for reviewing! A special thank you to my followers and favoriters as well... You're still spectacular!

Please vote for the poll on my profile! :)

Enjoy the chapter, and **thank you** for reading!

* * *

Upon Esca's and Pietro's return to Stark Tower, they met up with Clint, Tony, and Steve. Esca declared she'd be out grocery shopping for what she would prepare that night.

"I'll come with you," volunteered Steve, and Esca quickly accepted his company. Then she asked the others, "Any of you three want to come?"

"No, thanks," replied Tony. "I've got something to work on in the lab."

Pietro and Clint also declined, as Pietro said that he needed Clint's help with something.

So Esca and Steve went to the supermarket on their own, buying some fish, white wine, baguettes, apples, chicken, and ginger. Esca planned on making bourride with aïoli (a French soup), grilled chicken with ginger (exactly as it sounded), and an apple croustade (a flaky version of apple pie). As there would be nine people to feed, a lot of each ingredient was purchased, along with some spices and oils that Esca figured she would need.

When she again returned to Stark Tower, she was in high spirits. Steve had proven to be excellent company, as they had similar music tastes—that was to say, Esca enjoyed Frank Sinatra immensely, and Steve knew who that was—and they talked about music for a while. Esca was pleasantly surprised at Steve's accommodating nature towards contemporary music, as it was not her favorite thing. They continued this talk throughout the dinner preparations—even though Esca insisted on Steve sitting down and letting her cook, he just as persistently declared that he could at **_least_** help cut the chicken.

Three hours later, the food was ready, and just as Esca asked the voice in the ceiling—it was apparently a program Tony created called FRIDAY—to tell everyone dinner was ready, Tony could be heard bumbling down the steps. "I smell food," he declared, and his eyes practically bugged when he saw what Esca had prepared.

"Well, look at **_you,_** new best friend!" exclaimed Tony, clapping in approval. Meanwhile, Esca was pouring a white wine for everyone, and water for herself as she was only twenty.

"Steve helped," grinned Esca, but Steve just good-naturedly waved off the recognition.

"FRIDAY, please get everyone to the commons," said Tony, his eyes still wide.

"I have already done so, sir. Miss Esca Rarity has just made that request."

"So how did you get this FRIDAY program, Tony?" asked Steve.

Tony shrugged. "It only took me three hours to cook up the sequel."

"Speaking of cooking, I smell food," announced Clint's voice as he dazedly stumbled into the kitchen. "And it smells delicious."

"Look at this," exclaimed Tony, throwing his arm over Clint's shoulder. "Our newest, bestest friend is indeed the bestest."

"Steve helped," repeated Esca, but for the second time, Steve waved off her comment.

After a while, the others trickled down to the common area/kitchen/dining room. Esca set the table for nine, as Steve had previously told Esca that "everyone" meant Clint, Tony, Wanda, Pietro, Nat, Vision, Thor, Esca, and himself.

It only took five minutes for eight of the nine to descend. Seeing that they were one woman short, Esca asked, "Where is Miss Romanoff?"

Clint gazed upward and mumbled, "She may or may not come down. She's been searching for Banner nonstop the past couple days…"

Those words made Esca sympathetic for the other woman.

"Leave some food for her, all right?" requested Esca, glancing up worriedly. "If she doesn't come down for dinner, I'll leave some food outside her door."

The others nodded, and Esca was then introduced to Thor and Vision, neither of whom she'd met before. Thor stuck a hand out with a proud grin and announced, "So you are the woman called Esca." His voice was deep and comforting, though Esca could tell that if he raised it, it would be scary.

She smiled and shook his hand, craning her neck a little to look at him, as he was more than a foot taller than her. "Indeed, and you must be Thor."

"You are correct!" Thor's smile grew, and as he gestured to the food aligned before them, he said, "Thank you for preparing this sustenance. It was quite kind of you, and it looks delightful."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, Thor," grinned Esca. She decided she liked the god. He was very polite, and he seemed quite friendly too.

Then she met Vision, who gazed at her quizzically, as if he was assessing her. While Esca smiled at him, and he smiled back, it was hesitant, as if he did not quite know what to think of her. He did, however, thank her for her effort with dinner before nodding towards her and moving to sit beside Wanda.

As everyone sat down, Pietro caught Esca's eye and asked, "So is this the little piece of France you were talking about?"

A half-smile came over her face. "It is. If I cannot bring you all to France, I will have to bring a little of France to you."

"You've been to France?" asked Steve, raising an eyebrow.

Esca nodded. "I lived there for three years. It was my favorite place I've lived in."

"Other than Switzerland," muttered Pietro, raising his glass of water to his lips. He only smirked at Esca when she shot him a look.

Clint snorted at Pietro's comment—but, seeing Esca's glare, he sobered afterward.

Everything was quiet for a moment before Steve remarked, "I didn't know you knew France so well. I've been there myself, although it's been about seventy years, so…"

This last part made Esca laugh quietly. "If I were able to tell you what it's like now, I would, but unfortunately I'm not sure I have the words to properly describe it."

"Where else have you lived?" asked Wanda.

"Germany, Russia, London, Sokovia—"

"Switzerland," suggested Pietro.

"Oh, will you **_stop!_** " exclaimed Esca. Her exasperation set both Clint and Pietro to laughing, effectively confusing the others.

Once they were quiet, Wanda asked, "What's the significance of Switzerland?"

Pietro was quicker to answer than Esca. "I'm just holding Switzerland over her head."

Steve was no more enlightened. "What do you mean?"

"I—I, uh, lost a bet," muttered Esca, shooting Pietro another evil look before glaring down at her bourride. Clint looked amused, Steve and Wanda confused, Vision was stagnant, and Thor and Tony were busy noming the chicken with ginger.

"What was the bet?" asked Tony through a mouthful of chicken.

Pietro seemed rather smug as he answered. "If I told Esca Rarity a joke and she laughed, she'd owe me a date. If she didn't laugh, I'd leave her alone."

"And she laughed," finished Clint, who was smirking from Esca's other side. As Pietro was across from her and Clint was next to him, Esca was receiving two smirks at one time; to avoid flushing in either anger or embarrassment, she leapt up from her chair and announced, "Steve, they're bullying me!" and ran to his other side.

Steve just laughed and patted her hand as she sat down next to him. "It seems they're being children. Not that that's anything new."

"You'd better get used to it," said Pietro's voice, though Esca didn't look at him. "You'll have to put up with us as long as you're here."

Esca sighed and dropped her head on the table with a _clunk!_

The others laughed; Steve eventually managed to convince Esca to return to her seat and finish her dinner. As Esca sat down, she grumbled, "You two treat me like a little sister."

"I should hope I do not," replied Pietro, leaning back in his chair, "Seeing as I am taking you to dinner tomorrow, and I already have **_one_** little sister to watch over."

Wanda shot Pietro a somewhat irritated look, but that morphed to grim satisfaction as Esca retorted, "If we are anything like siblings, I obviously must be the elder, seeing as I can't take my eyes off you for twenty minutes before you get yourself shot."

Pietro rolled his eyes, but Clint just chuckled and said to Esca, "You will have to forgive me if **_I_** see you as a little sister. After all, I saved you from the rubble."

"And I saved **_you_** from the robot's attack," said Esca. "I also managed to protect Pietro from the majority of that robot's bullets. Did either of you realize I'd shielded you?"

"What?" asked both Clint and Pietro.

Esca sighed. "Apparently not. Watch this." She extended her hands and, with a flick of her wrist, made a cyan shield surround Pietro's glass. Seeing what she was doing, everyone stared at her. "I've been getting better at it," she gasped, lowering her hands. She had to desist before she lost too much energy. "I'd been trying for years, but my first success was when that robot tried to kill you, Clint. My second was shielding some of you from those bullets, Pietro."

There was another silence before Vision announced, "I think this girl would turn out to be a promising agent."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "She's already got the healing abilities. I'm sure she could learn how to shoot a gun in no—"

"Someone needs training? Well, that's my specialty," said a new, female voice.

Everyone turned around to see Natasha descending the steps, her dark red hair somewhat ruffled and her eyes highlighted with dark circles, as if she wasn't sleeping. Esca's mouth dried when she saw her.

"So who's the new trainee?" Natasha asked. Her gaze landed on Esca; she blinked. "Rarity… is that… you?"

Esca swallowed. So much for hiding who she was. "Hey, Roma," she murmured.

"You two know each other?" asked Clint, glancing between the two.

The women just looked at each other for another moment. "Yes," replied Esca at last. "We do. I, uh—I was raised with her… for a time."

"I thought you were dead," stated Natasha bluntly.

"It would've been better if I was," mumbled Esca. She remembered why she'd been moved from the Red Room to Germany; before she could help it, she shattered the glass in her hand.

Wanda gasped and Steve jumped somewhat at Esca's sudden move. Pietro moved forward as if to help her, but wasn't sure how.

Esca sighed and closed her eyes, aware that everyone was watching her. "Pardon my grip, Tony. I'll clean that up…"

Tony started to say that he'd take care of it, but Esca ignored him. She hadn't remembered that her best friend from the Red Room had been Natasha or, as she called Natasha back then, Roma. She'd wanted to forget all about it. But it appeared that wouldn't be an option anymore.

"Where did you go?" asked Nat, kneeling in front of Esca. "I looked for you for a year."

Esca just shook her head. "Just as it wasn't my design to arrive, it wasn't by my design to leave, if that comforts you."

"But—"

"Nat," said Clint's voice. Everyone's attention moved to him as he added softly, "She'll tell you when she's ready. I'm sure there's a good reason."

After a moment, Natasha nodded. "Sorry, Rarity—I mean… Esca. That's your first name, right?"

Esca nodded. "And yours is Natasha. I remember now. I'm not sure if that's a good thing," she added bitterly.

There was another silence, and Esca looked around the table. Both Pietro and Steve were looking at her in a way that clearly suggested they wanted to help, but didn't know how to. Wanda, Tony, and Thor looked concerned, though a little more detached. Vision was blank, as usual.

"I'm… going to bed," sighed Esca. She finished cleaning up the mess she'd made and announced, "You all leave the dishes for me, I'll take care of them tomorrow." Then she ran up the stairs and didn't look back.


	7. A Glimpse of Her Past

A large hello to all my readers! Once again, I'd like to thank you all for reading this fic... It is wonderful to know you have read and enjoyed it! A humongous pile of gratitude for my reviewers, **Marvel18, Winter Frosts, Motoko the Red Queen, Savarra, Alicecreed1010, Tiryn,** and **Lost Lady of Time**!

A big shout-out to all my followers and favoriters as well, because I have 70 favorites and 120 followers now! Holy crap! That's really amazing! I am sending you all very large internet hugs right now. :)

On that note, have a MARVELous day! (Eh? Eh? See what I did there? I can make corny jokes too, Pietro!)

* * *

Once Esca Rarity was gone, the others stared at each other. Pietro wasn't sure what was going on—obviously Natasha and Esca Rarity knew each other, but how, he didn't know. He didn't want to ask, but he was curious.

Luckily, Wanda asked the question for him. "How did you two know each other?"

"The Red Room," sighed Natasha, sitting in Esca Rarity's seat. "She was brought in by the Nurses… they said her parents were dead. I don't think that was the truth, though. Anyway, I met her when some other girls were using her as boxing practice. After that, she and I were like sisters. But three years after I met her, she was gone. I don't know how or why, but she was. I figured it was because Rarity—Esca—was never one for violence. She refused to… do some of the things that the Nurses wanted. She was punished… a lot… for sticking to her beliefs. I thought they'd killed her."

"Germany," said Pietro before he could tell himself it was a bad idea. Seeing everyone's gaze was on him, he shrugged and said, "She told me she was moved to Germany after Russia. I assume that's where this Red Room was?"

Natasha nodded, her eyes swimming with memories. "I thought she'd **_died,_** " she said again. "She was the only thing keeping me going for a while."

Everyone was quiet for another while as they pondered what Esca Rarity had really been through. It was clear she wasn't just an innocent bystander in Sokovia who happened to save Pietro's life. She was more than that.

After another moment, Stark rose and stretched, declaring, "Well, I'm certainly not going to hold it over her head. The girl can cook, and you all can be damn sure I'm not scaring my new best friend away."

That made Thor and Rogers chuckle. Since they didn't want to leave such a tedious chore for Esca Rarity the following morning, they washed the dishes anyway. After a while, everyone went their separate ways—only Natasha, Barton, and Pietro remained in the common area after dinner was over.

Barton was the first one to say anything. "Find any trace of Banner?"

Natasha shook her head. "Nothing."

"You will soon," he reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come back."

She nodded, although Pietro thought she wasn't convinced. He simply watched as Barton left, leaving only him and Natasha in the room.

It was silent for a while before she asked, a slight smile on her face, "Did I hear rightly that you punked Esca into a date?"

"I did," said Pietro, a smug look on his face.

"What was the joke?"

"Since she lived in Switzerland for two years, I used the joke, 'What is the best thing about living in Switzerland?'"

"What was it?"

"The flag is a big plus."

Natasha blinked and sighed. "My God. Are you serious? You got her with **_that?_** "

"That's what I said."

"I find it hard to believe that Esca would simply **_laugh_** at something like that," sighed Natasha, shaking her head. "She used to be so… guarded. She wouldn't laugh at anything until a year after I met her. But even then, it was hard to coax a smile out of her."

"I think the only reason I got her to laugh was because my joke was so stupid," grinned Pietro, recalling the way Esca Rarity had rolled her eyes at him afterward. That had been endearingly amusing. "But that doesn't matter. I got her to laugh, and Barton helped me figure out what to do for tomorrow night."

Natasha raised an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? What's the big plot?"

But Pietro just smirked and shook a finger in her direction. "Sorry, Romanoff, but I can't tell you. You might just go and relay our secrets to Miss Esca Rarity, and then what kind of surprise would I have for her tomorrow night?"

The female assassin simply returned his smirk, though there was a bit of old worry in her eyes. "Well, Maximoff, I'd suggest you go and try to talk to Esca if you want to surprise her tomorrow. Whenever she retreats like this, she usually stays that way for a while. She may or may not appear for breakfast tomorrow morning."

Although he didn't want to believe her, Pietro figured that Natasha might be on to something. After all, she certainly knew the other woman better than he did—although hopefully that wouldn't be the case for long. Pietro was surprised by how much he wanted to get to know Esca Rarity, as he'd never been apt to make friends. His sister had been all he needed, and while Wanda was still his top priority, Esca Rarity was ascending the scale frighteningly quickly. "Very well, I trust you. Don't make me regret it," he added with a chuckle.

Natasha's eyebrow only raised higher. "Believe me, Maximoff, I'm on your side. It's about time that girl has something to be happy about."

Though the comment bothered him and made him wonder what had happened to Esca Rarity in the past, Pietro only nodded and set off for the med bay, as that was where he suspected she'd be. He didn't revert to his super speed yet, because A) he wasn't sure he was quite recuperated for that yet, and B) he didn't want to make Natasha think anything inaccurate.

Of course Pietro liked Esca Rarity, but he didn't **_like_** her. That much.

He groaned at his own thoughts and almost slapped a hand to his forehead. **_Why_** did Esca Rarity get under his skin like this? **_How?_**

He figured it was her name. He hadn't felt the strange way he felt for her until she told him her name. After all, he was continually referring to her with her whole name. And she also had blue eyes, which was a problem. Pietro had always liked blue eyes.

He stopped in the middle of the staircase and thought, _Maybe I should just go back before I do something really stupid in front of her._

Then he realized that wasn't an option. He'd been in the med bay the previous night, so he didn't have a guest room or anything yet. And if he went back down to the common area, Natasha would know he didn't talk to Esca Rarity.

So he would do what he'd done the rest of the day—act like a confident prick despite feeling like he was going to puke.

Suddenly, Pietro found himself outside the medical bay. He knocked lightly before declaring, "I'm coming inside, Esca Rarity. Just wanted to warn you so you don't stick me with a needle or something."

There was a small laugh in response, and then her voice said, "Come in."

Once Pietro was inside the room, he stopped and looked at her. She was reading _A Tale of Two Cities_ again, her bookmark back in her hair. She looked slightly pale, but she smiled a bit when he entered the room.

Seeing her, he immediately lost his cocky manner and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yes," she replied, gently closing the book. "I'm fine, thank you."

Pietro stepped closer and looked at her sideways. "Are you sure? You seemed a little shaken up at dinner."

Esca Rarity, however, just smiled and replied, "Don't worry about me, Pietro. I'm okay."

He looked at her for another moment before hesitantly replying, "All right, then… On a totally different topic, thank you for the French dinner. It was the best thing I've tasted in a long time. I don't know how I'll outdo you tomorrow night."

That made her smile. She rose from the chair and crossed her arms. Then she shrugged and replied, "You don't have to outdo anything. It will be nice to just get to know you. I don't remember who my last friend was… so it'll be a nice change."

For some reason, her comment made Pietro both happy and sad—happy because he'd get to be her friend; sad because she hadn't had many. And so he responded, "You'll have many friends here, Esca Rarity."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" she giggled, turning to look out the window. Pietro couldn't see her expression when she did this, which made him wonder if she was frowning or laughing or rolling her eyes. "You're almost as bad as Steve, who insists on calling me 'miss.'"

With that, Pietro scoffed. "Perhaps your name just rolls off the tongue. Perhaps I like your name. Perhaps I do it because I want to call you something different from what everyone else does. Take your pick."

Esca Rarity turned back around to face him, a hopeless laugh on her face. "You are something else, Pietro Maximoff."

"See? Now you're doing it, too."

His exclamation made her shake her head and restrain a laugh, which pleased him. At least he was able to make her laugh as well as irritate her. "You should get some sleep, crazy. It's been a long day and you will need the rest," she said.

"I need no such thing," he declared, but Esca's voice made him tired. That was when he remembered something—"By the way, do you sing often?"

Esca Rarity laughed softly. "I don't sing, Pietro. It's not my thing."

"Liar," he murmured. "I remember… you sang… on the helicopter."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she murmured, walking toward him. With each word she said, he seemed to grow more tired. Why was that? "Get to bed," she said, putting a hand on his arm. And with the sudden exhaustion he felt, Pietro obediently crawled in the bed he'd rested in and fell asleep.


	8. Sisterly Shopping

Good afternoon, all (or whatever time of day it is for you)! Chapter 8 is obviously up! Per regulations, thank you to **Saint of the Sinners, wehavetofindthesun, Marvel18, WriterandDaydreamer4218, Tanley662, D, Savarra,** and my **Guest** for reviewing! And all ye who follow and favorite this, thank you so much as well! You make me very excited to post my new chapters and whatnot; you're the best!

If you guys have an idea about a "family Avenger" chapter, please leave a prompt in a review! I might take one or two, as I want this to be about 25 chapters or so. I'm not sure yet, though, because that requires thinking and planning and stuff I'm not good at. All I know is; I'm adding a prank war between all the Avengers and Esca somewhere in the fic... Enough said, I believe...

Thank you so much for reading, guys! I hope you enjoy, and have a MARVELous day! :)

PS-Yes, I will be using the above farewell note in each of my chapters now. MARVEL fans unite, amirite?

* * *

Throughout the next day, Esca felt extremely guilty for using her power to make Pietro fall asleep. While he probably had no idea that she'd convinced him to rest—something she did only because he started to discover the extent of her abilities—she still felt bad about it. Normally, whenever she'd heal someone, she would just make them forget all about her once it was clear they'd recuperate.

But she didn't do it to Pietro. She figured she knew why… she didn't want him to forget she helped him. It was nice to have him be interested in becoming her friend.

Esca just hoped that she'd be able to **_keep_** him as a friend. She'd have to keep her past hidden from him—and everyone else—so they would accept her.

That afternoon, after being given a tour of Stark Tower by Tony, being taught by Clint how to shoot a bow and arrow, and talking to Steve, Esca was out shopping with Natasha and Wanda, seeing as they wanted to get more clothes and wanted her to come along.

Natasha was getting a new outfit for clubbing in, Wanda was looking for something comfortable, and Esca was awkwardly looking at dresses, seeing as she didn't have anything to wear except what Tony's girlfriend Pepper had left for her and she wanted to get her own clothes so she wouldn't be a mooch. As the other two slowly trickled back to Esca's side, she was stuck between a pink dress with white stripes and a royal blue dress with long sleeves.

"These are pretty," she said simply. Then she caught sight of a pair of jeans and murmured, "I like those too…"

"Well, since we already exchanged your foreign money for American dollars, you can check the prices and get what you'd like," said Natasha. As she looked at Esca's indecisive expression, however, she added softly, "I'd be more than happy to make up the difference, if you need it. You'll need clothes, Esca."

Esca glanced at Natasha out of the corner of her eye, but before she could say anything, Wanda piped up. "I'd be happy to help, too."

She smiled at the women and replied softly, "Thank you both, but I wouldn't want to do that. I'll manage."

They started to protest, but Esca escaped them by declaring she wanted to try on the pink dress and the pair of jeans with a silver sweater. Then she ran into the dressing rooms.

Within the next five minutes, Esca showed the other women what she gathered—both Natasha and Wanda liked the pink dress, but they thought that waist-level jeans would be more Esca's style as opposed to the low-rise jeans she'd grabbed. Esca agreed, though soon she wished she hadn't, because the two were seizing more clothing for her to try on.

"H—hey!" yelped Esca as Nat dumped three more dresses and another sweater into her arms. "What's going on?"

Wanda giggled and replied, "We're bringing you things we think you'll like! After all, you need clothes, and we've already gotten all we want."

"But I just came to find something for my d—uh—for… dinner! Tonight!" exclaimed Esca, her face turning pink. Natasha had displayed her approval of her dinner plans earlier, and Esca was very hesitant to resurface the topic in her presence. "I didn't mean to go on a shopping spree. Anyway, I told you that I'd have to go to the bank first."

"Don't worry about it," insisted Natasha, giving her the look that meant there would be no arguing with her. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to pay us back. Now try on this dress! It'll compliment your eyes. By the way, you need a necklace."

Natasha positively flung the new dress at Esca before rushing off towards accessories.

Esca sighed once she was gone and looked at Wanda. "She's determined to kill me, isn't she?"

Wanda laughed and said, "She's looking out for you. She sees you as a sister. I do not know if you are aware how happy she is now that she knows you are alive. Since Dr. Banner has been gone… she's been different."

Esca sadly watched Natasha pore over pearl necklaces and matching earrings. "Yes… perhaps you are right," she murmured. "I've missed her."

"I would think so… were you two close?"

"Closer than I've ever been to anyone before," sighed Esca, still watching the redheaded assassin. She felt sorrier than ever for leaving the Red Room, even though she'd had no say in the matter. "I'm hoping… that I can make it up to her while I am here. And that I can make more friends at the same time."

Wanda smiled, seeing the sincere hope in Esca's face, and replied, "Well, you are off to a good start. Everyone likes you."

The blonde girl sighed. "I don't think Vision likes me…"

"Oh, no, he does," reassured Wanda. "He is just hesitant about meeting new people—I promise, he likes you."

Esca glanced at Wanda curiously, wondering how she knew what Vision thought about her. Wanda seemed to notice the unspoken question and flushed a little, declaring, "I've become friends with Vision. He was nice to me."

That made Esca smile. "That is good to hear… I hope I can be friends with everyone."

"That will be an easy task for one so amiable as you," smiled Wanda. "You've already found a place in the hearts of everyone back at the Tower. Stark is insistently calling you his 'new best friend' because you can cook."

They both laughed at that; just then, Natasha returned, three necklaces, a pair of earrings, and a bracelet in her hands. Since she wanted Nat to be happy, and since all the jewelry she picked out was rather lovely, Esca took them all and proceeded to try on everything the two women had brought her, if only for their entertainment.

An hour later, when they left the store, Esca had the pink dress, a pair of jeans, two sweaters, and the pair of earrings in her bag. Luckily, she'd been able to pay for most of it—Wanda and Natasha split the cost of one of her sweaters, since Esca hadn't had enough on her for it but they both insisted she should get it because it was silver and very pretty with her hair.

As they walked along the New York City streets, Esca asked, "So… back to Stark Tower?"

"Yes, back to—" agreed Wanda, but Natasha interrupted her with a gasp.

"Uh, no! Not yet, I'm… starving. Yes, I am **_very_** hungry. I forgot to eat lunch today. How about we stop and get some food? There's a burger joint just down the street," suggested Natasha. Esca noticed she was trying to shove her phone back in her pocket. There was a message from Clint on it.

She decided not to ask about it. After all, that would prove she was looking at Nat's phone, and that was none of her business. Instead, she answered, "That sounds nice."

And thus, the three girls went to Schwarma, where they were greeted and served by a cheerful guy with curly brown hair. His name tag read _Robbie,_ and upon hearing that Esca was new to the country, he gave her a chocolate milkshake free of charge.

"We're pretty famous for our shakes," said Robbie with a happy smile. "Everyone loves them; even my best friend loved them, and when I met her she didn't like chocolate! Crazy female… I miss her. She went to Salt Lake City for a while with her boyfriend or whatever."

Esca understood what it was like to be moved away from a good friend, so she started a conversation with Robbie. Before long, all four of them were chatting. Esca decided she liked Robbie; he was very nice, and **_very_** spirited.

But… it might've just been Esca… Natasha seemed to be fueling the conversation a lot, as if she were intentionally keeping them talking.

Esca's suspicions were at a peak when Nat checked her phone and suddenly declared, "Oh, it's been wonderful talking to you, Robbie, but we better get going. We'll be sure to come back!"

Robbie waved farewell and moved to serve other customers. The three women left a good tip for him before walking back to Stark Tower.

On the way, Esca finally had to say something. "So Natasha, are you going to tell me what you and Clint are plotting, or am I going to have to guess?"

Natasha didn't make any sign to indicate she was surprised by Esca's words. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you've been stalling," declared Esca. "You're up to something. You and Clint, anyway, as I'm rather sure that's whom you've been exchanging texts with."

The other women giggled. Then Wanda exclaimed, "She wasn't the only one stalling."

"What? What's going on?"

"You'll see," was all they would say, much to Esca's frustration.

It wasn't until they returned to Stark Tower that Esca got her first hint about what was going on. When she walked in the common area, she saw Pietro and Clint talking. They shook hands, but Clint looked over and said, "Oops, they're back."

Pietro looked over, locked eyes with Esca, and zoomed away without even a hello.

"I see!" exclaimed Esca once he was gone. She turned to face Wanda and Natasha and put her hands on her hips. "This whole shopping guise was to get me out of the Tower!"

Clint chuckled and drew closer, and Esca could see there was a teasing edge in his eyes. "You're quick," he announced with a grin. "Unfortunately, that's all you're going to know for another hour."

"But—!"

Esca could get no more out before Natasha interrupted her. "Come on, let's put your new clothes in your room!" And she started pushing the blonde girl out of the common area.

"Everyone seems to know about this plot except me," grumbled Esca.

"Oh, hush up and put your dress on," sighed Natasha. "You'll thank us later."

"Thank you for what, exactly?" retorted the blonde girl as she removed her baby-blue sweater and gray jeans. She pulled the dress over her head and asked, though her voice was a little muffled, "Are you all seriously trying to set me up with Pietro?"

"We're just trying to surprise you. Now be quiet and hurry up so I can do your hair!"

Esca sighed, but allowed herself to be dolled up by Natasha. She figured it was the least she could do, seeing as Natasha **_did_** help buy her that sweater… Still, she muttered, "I thought Pietro was the only crazy one around here, but I was mistaken. You're **_all_** bonkers."

Natasha just laughed. "We'll see about that."

Within the next forty minutes, Esca had a lovely braid in her hair, a few powders on her face, and her new pair of earrings on her person. Natasha shooed her downstairs with a, "Hurry up, Esca, you're late!"

"You made me late!" groaned Esca, but she obediently exited her room, trying to ignore the silly butterflies in her stomach. After all, she was just going to dinner with Pietro. And they'd just talk. And oh God she hadn't allowed herself to get close to people for a long time what if she messed something up.

"Stop it," she grumbled to herself. "Everything'll be fine. You and Pietro are just friends. You're just hanging out and eating food. It's fine."

With that, Esca put on a smile and entered the common area.


	9. A Guarded Heart Slightly Opened

Good evening, everyone! I'm posting two days in a row because I will be out of town this weekend, thus unable to update for a few days. Hopefully this'll be an acceptable chapter to leave off on. :)

As usual, thanks so much to **D** and **DarkFlameJ** for their reviews! I seriously LOVE getting those... they make my day! I'd love to hear feedback from the lot of you about how the story is progressing, and if it's to your liking... Your thoughts are VERY important to me, and if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, shoot them my way! Also, a huge shout out to all my followers and favoriters, because without you, this story might not have existed.

If any of you have prompts for a "family Avengers" chapter, please let me hear them! I'd enjoy getting new ideas from you all!

Last announcement, I promise: I have a new poll on my profile asking you lot what I should make public next! If you are ever interested in reading another story of mine, I'd like to know what would be popular.

That's all for now, folks! Have a MARVELous day! :)

* * *

"Don't you look lovely, Esca Rarity."

Esca's resolve to be confident vanished. She hoped it wasn't obvious how anxious she was…

"Aren't you sweet," she replied, smiling a little despite her nerves. She twisted her hands together, knowing that she should probably look up from the floor so she wouldn't be awkward. So she did—and without really meaning to, she said, "You look very nice, too."

And he did; he was dressed in a business-casual style, dark pants and a gray button-down shirt. But Esca wasn't too preoccupied with that, because he was actually smiling at her. It was strange, seeing as most of the time he was smirking, but she liked the change.

"Aren't you sweet," he repeated, and that smirk returned. Esca just sighed and tried not to roll her eyes. She heard Pietro laugh and say, "I promise I won't be a jerk all night. I had to get it out of my system."

"All right, I believe you." She finally let herself smile and forced herself to stop wringing her hands. "So… apparently there's been a big plan going around the Tower today, and I haven't been invited. Would you be so kind as to explain?"

"You've come to the head of the organization," said Pietro, opening his arms as if to reveal a big secret. "I apologize if you felt out of the loop, but I needed you out of the Tower this afternoon. After all, my superbly secret plot was centered around you."

This made her grin. "Well, now I feel special."

"You **_are_** special," he said, and then he stepped forward and ever so gently directed her to the elevator by brushing his hand on her elbow. "Follow me, Esca Rarity. I want to show you the best of New York City."

Admittedly excited, Esca allowed herself to smile as she entered the elevator. She simply looked at Pietro as he pushed a button and the elevator started moving—but something felt odd. She looked out of the glass and saw that they were heading **_up._**

Amused, she declared, "All right, I am efficiently confused. But for the sake of you revealing your greatly organized plan, I will say nothing." And she pursed her lips and pretended to look upward to the sky, as if wondering what kind of weather they would be having.

"How kind of you," said Pietro's voice, but Esca didn't look at him. She had to restrain another grin from coming across her face.

"Was that sarcastic?" she asked.

"Not at all."

Esca decided to take his word for it, and remained silent the rest of the way up. She was a little surprised to find that they stopped at the roof of Stark Tower—but still, she said nothing.

Once the doors opened, Pietro smiled at her and waved his arm. "Ladies first," he said, the smallest hint of mockery in his voice. Esca presented him a sickly-sweet smile, but she moved forward all the same. When she laid eyes on what was in front of her, however, she stopped short.

"How did… you…"

But Esca never finished that sentence. She was absolutely astonished—in front of her was no regular, desolate roof. It was like a backyard patio, with plants like a garden neatly arranged around a singular table that had food Esca recognized on it: there was bread and what Esca suspected was fondue, a chocolate cake, and a dish she easily knew was pastetli. She had made the meat pie dish many times herself, and how Pietro had known or guessed that it was one of her favorites, she had no idea. But the thing that truly caught her attention was the view. She could see over the entire city of New York, and it was beautiful, and relatively quiet compared to how loud New York usually was. The buildings were tall, and she could see for miles in each direction. It was like she was in Switzerland again, hiking throughout the country, able to see for miles and miles out. The sky was melding pink, orange, and dark-blue.

She swallowed. Everything was so surreal.

"You didn't see this coming?" smirked Pietro, gazing at the astounded blonde girl.

She shook her head. "No, I… can honestly say I did not. How did you **_do_** all this?"

"Wanda and Nat were the distraction, I run fast and can cook, and I'm friends with a god, a super-soldier, an archer who owed me a favor, an android who can move objects with his mind, and a man who wears a suit of armor and suddenly possesses the powers of another god. And all of us want to make you very happy here. That's how this happened," grinned Pietro, looking sideways at Esca. "So when you said a plan was going around Stark Tower and you were the only one uninvited… you were **_literally_** the only one uninvited."

Esca laughed, but her throat felt tight. She didn't know what to say—she was utterly shocked. In fact, she was so moved, Esca started to feel tears spiking her eyes.

Pietro noticed this too, and he looked at her with worry. "Are you all right, Esca Rarity?"

"Oh—yes," she gasped, moving her hand to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes. "I've never been better. I just… this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. I never dared to dream that anyone could be so kind to me before, but—"

"Esca," said Pietro sharply. The tone in his voice made her stop short and look in his eyes, and they were completely serious as he said, "We may have only known you for a few days, but we have grown to adore you. I'm new to the Avengers myself, but if there's one thing I know about this group, it's that it is a **_family._** And you're part of that family now."

She sniffed a little and smiled again. "That's all I've ever wanted."

"Well, we're going to give you a lot more," grinned Pietro, sauntering forward. "Just wait! Next week, I'll get Stark to lend me a jet, and we can go to Switzerland itself."

Esca laughed, but all she said was, "I do not need to go to Switzerland. I have all I need right here."

Pietro gazed at her, a look Esca could not identify in his eyes. But she followed him as he gestured for her to come and sit down. He pulled out her chair for her; once he was sitting too, she announced, "I suspect you and Clint have been plotting this since yesterday."

He shrugged, though the small smirk on his lips told Esca that she was right. "Like I said, Barton owed me a favor. Thus, he became my co-conspirator."

She leaned forward in interest. "How did you convince everyone?"

"They were all for it!" he exclaimed, grinning. "Especially Wanda, Thor, and Natasha. I only said two words to them before they agreed."

"Thor?" asked Esca. She was surprised he was so eager—she hadn't gotten to know him too well the previous night.

"Indeed," replied Pietro. "He has taken a liking to you because—what did he say—he said, 'Ah, Esca! Yes, I like her. She is elegant and classy and reminds me of the people of Asgard.' And that was all he said before he started moving some stuff up here."

His impersonation of Thor's voice made her laugh again, and her eyes fell upon the meal. "You really planned this out, didn't you?" she asked more to herself than Pietro. Then, to him, she added, "Was Switzerland your theme tonight, or was that just coincidence?"

"Well, I was able to make this happen because of my stupid Switzerland joke… so it was a theme," he answered, a careless gleam in his eye. "I wonder, if I were to tell you another joke, with a bet of the same stakes, if you would laugh again?"

Esca's reply was thoughtless; she didn't really mean to say it, but as soon as she did, she knew it was true. "You wouldn't need to tell me another joke. Maybe you'd just have to ask."

Pietro raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his seat. Esca, realizing what she just said and/or implied, flushed and raised her water goblet to her lips.

"You always do that," he remarked.

She set the goblet down and looked at him innocently. "Do what?"

He smirked. "You always hide your face when you blush. Why is that?" Hearing her silence, he grinned wickedly and mused, "I wonder what would happen if I were to compliment you, right now, about how beautiful you look. Or perhaps, if I were to comment on how well you can sing, because I **_know_** you can, Esca Rarity, I heard you. Or maybe I should—"

"Stop it!" exclaimed Esca, her cheeks burning. But she was laughing, and she shouldn't be laughing that would only encourage him. "If you prattle on like that, I will go back down the elevator."

"No, you wouldn't," retorted Pietro. "I'd stop you."

"Would you?"

"Yeah, I would. You forget, I'd be faster than you."

Esca picked up a piece of bread and ate it to buy herself time for a retort. Unfortunately, it was hard to keep the smile off her face despite the bread. He seemed to notice this too, and the smirk returned on his face.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be a jerk tonight," remarked Esca mildly.

"If I were actually being a jerk, you wouldn't be laughing," he shot back, mimicking her by picking up a piece of bread. "And since when has complimenting a lady who deserves it been rude?" He raised an eyebrow with this last.

She didn't have an answer—so she only grabbed another piece of bread.

"No answer?" mocked Pietro.

She shook her head. "No answer," she confirmed. "I suppose I'm just not used to being complimented."

"You'd better get used to it," suggested Pietro. Esca shrugged—but then her gaze shot back to his face upon realizing what he meant. Seeing her expression, he laughed and served her some of the pastetli.

Over the next hour, Esca and Pietro engaged in conversation about the one thing they had in common: Sokovia. She learned that he and Wanda had lived there all their lives, and she heard many stories about them, many of which involved him getting into some sort of trouble and her having to get him out of it. Esca laughed a lot throughout those—they were so enwrapped in their conversation that their pastetli grew cold.

In exchange, Esca told Pietro all about France, and that she'd been adopted by an aspiring musician and farmer during the three years she'd lived there. He had enriched her knowledge of piano, seeing as she'd started to learn while in London, and now she could play Debussy's _Clair de Lune_ and his First Arabesque. Then she proceeded to talk about French, and that she learned from a professor that thought her piano skills were impressive at only fourteen years of age. Realizing that she was divulging quite a bit of her past, Esca mused, "Je ne l'ai jamais fait confiance quelqu'un comme je vous fais confiance, Pietro."

Pietro blinked. "What?"

She giggled at the lost expression on his face. "I have never trusted anybody like I trust you, Pietro. That was what I just said."

"You trust me?" he asked dubiously.

Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'm not a heart of stone, you know. I'm just careful around new people."

"I know. That's why I'm surprised… I've known you for less than a week."

She shrugged. "I am aware of that. But you have not given me any reason to withhold my trust. After all, when I met you, you saved my life. Have we forgotten that already? Let's not forget when you did it a second time just one minute later—"

"All right, all right," sighed Pietro, holding his hands up as if in surrender. "I'm not going to contest this. That would be stupid."

Esca smirked—their conversation continued until well after night had fallen. She had to admit that Pietro was a good cook as well… before long, she was quite full.

Once they started running out of things to say, Esca smiled and stretched a little. "This has been very fun, Pietro. Thank you for doing this…"

"Oh, hold on one moment," he declared. "I almost forgot. I wanted to show you something."

With that, he led her behind some of the plants, where there was what looked like a very large pillow. "Lie down on it," he said.

Not sure where this was heading, Esca did so a little hesitantly. Pietro kneeled down next to her and pointed upwards. "This is what the sky looks like above all those ridiculous lights in the city. It's not as clear as Switzerland, but…"

He trailed off, but Esca hardly noticed. Her eyes were swimming with the thousands of stars overhead… It was beautiful. She had missed looking at the stars the past few days, as New York City's blinding lights blocked a lot of them from view.

Esca realized there was plenty of room for Pietro to lie down and look at them, too. So she practically pulled him down and scolded, "You won't get away without seeing the stars, too, Pietro Maximoff."

He just laughed and lay down too. "They are amazing, aren't they? Wanda and I looked at them every night in Sokovia…"

"So did I," she smiled. "I guess that's another thing we have in common." She kept her gaze locked on them until she felt his fingers lightly brush her hand. Before she could psych herself out, Esca locked her pinkie finger around his—the smallest, simplest gesture, but the first one she'd ever voluntarily made with anyone.

Pietro turned to see Esca looking at him. With another sincere smile, he murmured, "Now, this is all hypothetical, so don't take me seriously. But if I were to hypothetically ask you on a real date—and this is hypothetical, of course—what would your answer be?"

She laughed lightly and replied, "I would hypothetically respond that I would be very happy to go on this hypothetically real date."

"That's good to know. May I take out all the hypotheticals and say—would you like to go on a **_real_** date with me, Esca Rarity?"

"I would like that very much," grinned Esca. "As long as you don't tell me any more ridiculous Switzerland jokes."

"There goes my Saturday."

She laughed again, but focused back on the stars. Even though she'd been extremely nervous around Pietro before, she felt comforted now. She knew, with a small smile, that he would be one of few who would eventually have her whole heart.


	10. Will You Sing For Me?

Hi, guys! Luckily, I'm back from out of town, and I have good Wi-fi again! Always a relief... I'd like to thank all my favoriters and followers of this story for waiting! I'd also like to have this tribute to **MusicalDivergentTribute, Saint of the Sinners, AvengerFrost, D, Savarra, DarkFlameJ,** and **niallsmyboo99** for their kind reviews! Thank you all so much for reading, following, and reviewing... everyone go buy yourself an ice cream!

I don't have much to say other than that... Enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

The next week passed by quickly, and Esca had adjusted to living in Stark Tower with the Avengers.

She and Steve were getting closer each day, like old childhood friends. Often, they would talk to each other while cooking dinner for the rest of the gang, and their conversations lasted throughout the meal. He was always kind and was quite protective of her.

Clint and Tony were the same jesters they always were, calling her blondie and making fun of her about her deepening friendship with Pietro. Of course, Pietro would just say, "Shut up, old men," whenever they would bother him, and then he'd zoom off; but Esca had no such luxury as a quick escape, and often had to endure their taunting until she would threaten to withhold their dinner. Once she'd say that, the two would be sweet as pie.

Thor was becoming a better friend of Esca's, too. They spent a long time discussing Asgardian culture—he declared that the next time he returned, he'd bring Esca a sample of their music so she could listen to it. In return, she showed him what a piano was, as Tony had one in the common area. Esca tried to teach Thor a few notes, but he preferred to listen to **_her_** play it.

While Vision and Esca were still more acquaintances than friends, they were warm to each other, and often struck up small conversations about how strange New York City was.

Natasha and Esca had reinstated the sisterly bond that had been broken, and Wanda was becoming close as well. Though Pietro was still Wanda's priority—and vice versa, and rightfully so—she was opening up more and coming out more often to say hello.

And then there was Pietro, with whom Esca was becoming closer. For their second non-hypothetical date, he brought her to a café where they talked mostly about New York, and how they should explore it sometime. Afterward, he led her to a bookshop, which made Esca so happy she could hardly speak. Pietro had known she'd finished _A Tale of Two Cities_ a few days beforehand; Esca was thrilled at the opportunity to buy herself another book. Or two. Or five.

Pietro, of course, insisted on paying for them, which made her sigh and say, "No, I got it. Really, I went to the bank and everything!"

"You forced me to let you pay for your own food," said Pietro, pointing at her sternly. "I'm buying your books."

Before long, it was ten days since she had arrived in New York City. Esca had grown to love the city and its boisterous charm, but she loved the people in Stark Tower even more. She figured, ironically, that the destruction of her old home was perhaps the best thing that had ever happened to her.

That evening, the Avengers were all lounging in the common area. Tony had hooked up Guitar Hero on the TV, and he was rocking out on guitar as Clint held the bass and Thor was whacking on the drums. Meanwhile, Steve and Pietro were sitting beside Esca as she read her newest book aloud to them, and Nat was talking to Wanda and Vision.

Esca was suddenly interrupted by Tony's shout of, "GUITAR SOLO!" And, since he was on the expert level, he got down on his knees and continued to jam out.

Everyone paused to watch—Tony Stark was undeniably amazing at Guitar Hero. When he got enough notes right, Esca exclaimed, "Use your star power, Rust Bucket!"

"Way ahead of ya, blondie!" shouted Tony as the guitar on the screen flashed bright blue. He didn't miss a single note; Clint and Thor were so fascinated by his performance that they almost missed their own cues back into the song.

The others laughed and shook their heads helplessly—Esca continued to read _The Things They Carried_ by Tim O'Brien. Steve especially seemed to like the novel.

Before she could finish the chapter, however, Esca was again cut off by Thor's loud yell of, "Good job, comrades! We have successfully appeased the mortals with our rock and roll performance!" Then he, Tony, and Clint shared a bro-five.

"Yes, I'm sure everyone's thrilled," grumbled Nat. She had long since asked them to stop screeching things like "High Score" and "Five Stars," but being the children they were, none of them had heeded her request.

Esca sighed and asked, "Am I allowed to finish this chapter now? There's one page left. I only need two minutes of peace and quiet."

"Go right ahead, blondie," said Clint. But then, he said to Tony, "We should do _Carry On My Wayward Son_ next."

Somewhat appeased, Esca concluded the chapter before taking her blue ribbon out of her hair and using it as a bookmark, the way she always did. Both Steve and Pietro blinked once before realizing she was done for the night, and they smiled at her—Steve ruffled her hair while Pietro slipped his pinkie finger around Esca's, something they did often now.

Steve was about to say something, but Tony's groan drowned him out. "Nah, Barton, we can't do _Wayward Son_ without a vocalist. And I think Nat would sooner shoot us than help us play another round."

"Got that right," exclaimed Natasha, reinforcing her statement with an evil glare.

Clint sighed and looked at Wanda. "Maximoff, you want to sing for us?"

Wanda glanced at Vision before shaking her head. "No thank you, Clint, I don't know that song very well."

Now Tony **_and_** Clint groaned. "Other Maximoff! Can you sing?"

Pietro just snorted and shook his head. But then a light came on in his eyes, and he glanced at Esca. She shot him a look that shrieked, " ** _NO,_** " but too late. The words were out of Pietro's mouth: "Esca Rarity can."

"No, I cannot," she exclaimed quickly.

"Yes, you can, and you know it. Now grab that microphone and help your brothers out."

"Pietro—AIGH!" This last was because he had swiftly grabbed her and sprinted her over to Tony, Clint, and Thor. At her sudden entrance, Tony grinned and held out the microphone.

"It's a classic," he prompted, a hopeful look on his face.

Esca just sighed and said, "I'm sorry, Tony, but I don't—"

"Oh, come on," sighed Pietro exasperatedly. "It's harmless."

She looked at him and was about to refuse again, but Steve beat her to it. "Leave her alone, guys, if she doesn't want to, she doesn't want to. Esca, you can come back here if you'd like." He shot the others a glare to let them know that if she returned to her seat, she would stay there or leave on her own terms.

Esca was about to sit back down next to Steve, but Pietro caught her arm. His gray eyes were somewhat pleading. "Come on, Esca Rarity," he murmured. "I know what I heard when you healed me ten days ago. Will you sing? Just one more time, please?"

Hearing the _please_ made Esca submit. "All right… Fine… but I would like to choose the song, if that's all right with you three."

Ecstatic that they finally had their vocalist, they nodded simultaneously, as if they were trained puppies. Esca giggled seeing their swift consensus and said, "Tony, you've downloaded all the possible songs for Guitar Hero, haven't you?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Brilliant, because I want to do _Ignorance_ by Paramore."

"Ooh, that's a feisty song," exclaimed Clint, raising an eyebrow.

Esca smirked, her eyes containing a hint of malice. "Believe me, there are people in the world whom I'd like to dedicate it to."

"One Paramore song is on the cue!" announced Tony.

The song had a countdown of three seconds, and then it started. At first, Esca was trying to remember how the song went. But before the first verse had ended, she remembered. She'd listened to it because it was a song about how other people didn't know who she was, and that they wouldn't trick her again, not after the first time.

As she sang, Esca remembered all the people who'd crossed her path and tried to harm her, throughout both Russia and Germany. But Germany was the worst. The **_worst._** She remembered so many people that she hoped were dead by this time, because of what they'd tried to meddle in without fully knowing what they were doing, and because of what they'd done to **_her_** personally.

While she didn't kill them, Esca had wanted to. So badly, she'd wanted to kill them. But her conscience prevailed, and she didn't. She didn't even hurt them.

 _I BEST BE ON MY WAY OUT_

That was it. That was the last line. The song was over.

With a deep breath, Esca carefully set the mic down on the table. Her anger dissipated somewhat, and with another slow inhale, she turned around, a small smile on her face.

But that immediately vanished. Everyone was standing up, their fists balled, fury in their eyes. Steve's gaze was filled with uncharacteristic violence. Tony was gripping the guitar in his hand so hard Esca was afraid he would break it. The same was with Clint. Sometime during the song, Thor must have hit one of the drums so hard it broke, because the red drum was on the floor. Natasha had one hand on her gun, the look in her eyes one of indescribable fury.

Pietro was gazing at her, detectable anger in his eyes, but he mostly looked **_sad._**

The only ones who looked normal were Wanda and Vision.

Esca swallowed. "I shouldn't have done it," she murmured. Then, she began to sing _The A Team_ by Ed Sheeran. As she got to the refrain, the Avengers began to loosen up from their blind ferocity and sat back down, blank expressions on their faces until Esca stopped singing.

Wanda was the first one to speak. "You picked two songs that meant something to you; two songs that represent your life."

"It was a poor choice," murmured Esca. "I affected all of you. This is why I don't sing."

Pietro stepped forward, broken from his trance. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

She sighed and flumped down on the chair beside her. The rest of them were gazing at her curiously, except for Wanda and Vision. It was like those two already **_knew…_** since Wanda could read minds, Esca wasn't surprised if she knew. But Vision… she had a feeling he knew as well, and she wasn't sure if she was comforted by that.

"My voice, it… It helps me heal people… but it also affects them. If I sing, and I am angry, everyone around me will be angry. If I am sad, everyone else will be sad. If I tell a story, everyone will be involved in it. That is why I do not sing. Because I can affect people with my voice, and I do not want to control people's emotions."

The others looked at her with solemn expressions. "I'm sorry I made you do it," murmured Pietro. "I shouldn't have—"

"It was my fault for letting it get out of hand," sighed Esca. "Do not blame yourself, Pietro, you did not know. I knew this might happen, but I failed to control myself. I'm very sorry to all of you for doing this. It was not my intent."

Tony moved forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's no trouble, blondie. As it is, I don't know who made you so angry, but just say the word and Uncle Stark will find them."

Esca laughed; hearing it, the others instantly reverted back to normal. It was Clint who next said, "I second that!"

This got everyone to loosen up. Esca smiled at them and opened her mouth to say something, but Tony beat her to it. "By the way, blondie, I've been thinking… If you and the Maximoffs are staying here—which you are very welcome to—I'm going to have some sort of housewarming party for you. How about it?"

She smiled. "If I get to meet some of your friends, I think it would be quite fun. Thank you, Tony… Now I should get some sleep."

He nodded. "Night, blondie."

The others bade her goodnight as well; Esca waved farewell, smiled at Pietro, and left. But when she reached her room, she tried not to be unnerved… If Wanda and Vision knew about her voice, and could read her mind, wouldn't that mean they'd know everything else about her, too?


	11. Truth or Truth

Wow, this is my longest chapter yet, guys! I hope it's to your liking! As always, a special thanks to **MusicalDivergentTribute, sweetlove91,** and **D** for their reviews! They make my day, so everyone, please tell me your thoughts on the story! Again, a giant thanks to my followers and favoriters. I wouldn't be writing this story without you! :)

One more thing: I'm still looking for general prompts for a chapter or two! My ears are open to any ideas you might have... Leave them in a review or feel free to message me, and I will definitely be glad to see what you think up.

There isn't much else for me to say other than have a MARVELous day, wonderful people! Thanks so much for reading; you're the best!

* * *

More days passed, and it was officially three weeks since Esca had taken refuge in Stark Tower. The people within the Tower celebrated by insisting that they take her out to dinner instead of letting her cook for once—they brought her to an exceptional pizzeria that had all kinds of pizza imaginable. The best thing about it was that they came in slices, so everyone was able to get their favorite.

Esca, for instance, ordered a slice of Hawaiian pizza with extra pineapple. Steve preferred the classic pepperoni while Tony and Thor both requested meat lovers. Clint and Natasha shared half of a cheese pizza, and Wanda and Pietro shared sausage. Vision did not order any food, but seemed to like being in the company of everyone else.

While the dinner was delicious, it was the superb company that made Esca happier than anything else. She had good conversations with everyone, and she finished her pizza quickly, as she'd never had gourmet pizza before.

Needless to say, Tony and Clint started teasing her about how she needed to eat more because she was too skinny.

"On the contrary, I probably eat too much," she contested, shrugging. To emphasize her point, she quickly requested a second slice of pizza.

"Honey, you're a stick," muttered Nat, but she was smirking.

"She is nothing short of perfect," retorted Pietro agitatedly, glaring around at the others as if they personally insulted him.

Tony held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, now, Maximoff, we're just teasing."

"Perhaps that is not something to tease about," murmured Wanda.

Esca smiled uneasily and said, ready to change the topic, "It's all right, Wanda, Pietro. They are harmless jesters. With these two around, I can never take anything seriously—I worry that one day, they will start a prank war around the Tower."

Natasha's pizza froze halfway to her mouth. "Esca," she gasped, "what have you **_done._** "

Clint and Tony, meanwhile, were rubbing their hands together evilly.

"Say, there, blondie, that's not a bad idea…" chuckled Clint.

"Indeed, I say we get started right away…" added Tony.

The others simply rolled their eyes and redirected their attention to more important matters, such as their pizza.

Before long, everyone was finished eating. After they paid, Pietro lightly locked his pinkie finger around Esca's and murmured, "Would you like to see the Statue of Liberty? It'd be from a distance, but…"

He was interrupted by Esca, who frantically nodded and exclaimed, "Yes, of course! Did you know that it was a gift from France, and that it is supposed to represent the Roman goddess Libertas? She represented freedom and—I'm rambling." Esca stopped suddenly, her cheeks pink.

Pietro looked both amused and impressed. "I didn't know you love history."

"Yeah, well," she murmured, shrugging slightly. "There are a lot of things you probably don't know about me."

"Why do you think I want to bring you to see the Statue of Liberty?" murmured Pietro, smirking a little. "I want to get to know more about you, Esca Rarity."

Esca flushed again, but smiled all the same. She and Pietro informed Wanda that they would be out for a while longer; she nodded and said she'd let Tony know so he wouldn't lock the Tower on them or something.

Once they were gone, Esca glanced at Pietro and said, "So… you know your way to the Statue of Liberty, then? Because I haven't the faintest."

He nodded and replied, "I actually walked to it three times today so we won't get lost."

It was Esca's turn to be amused. "So you've been planning this?"

"Absolutely," was all Pietro responded, but the look in his eyes said a lot more.

Admittedly glad to be spending more time with him, Esca smiled and took his outstretched hand so he could lead her to the spot he had picked. At first, as they walked, it was silent—longing to break that silence, Esca asked, "So how are you liking New York so far?"

"It's nice," responded Pietro thoughtfully. "It's large and confusing, but I've always liked cities more, myself. Wanda is the opposite, but she's accustomed relatively well."

Esca smiled somewhat. She figured, what with Wanda's reserved personality, that she could live on a farm and be very happy there. "I see where you are coming from. I am glad you like New York City. I know you've lived in Sokovia your whole life, so I've been hoping this isn't too difficult for you and your sister."

Pietro looked at her briefly before focusing back on the street so he wouldn't run into anybody. "There are some definite upsides here that I didn't have at Sokovia."

"Like what?"

"You, mainly. I didn't have the fortune to meet you back there until we almost died."

Esca laughed somewhat, as this was true. "It was certainly good luck that we met that day. Otherwise we'd both be dead, probably."

"I know **_I_** would be," said Pietro. "Perhaps you would've gotten out of the way of that train somehow, since it was going quite slowly—"

"I wouldn't have made it," interrupted Esca, shaking her head. "I am certain of that."

He glanced at her again and saw the conviction on her face. Then, with a small smile, he replied, "Perhaps you are right. Luckily, we will never find out. As it is, I want to know more about you… Let's examine what I **_do_** know. You love books, you listen to Frank Sinatra, you speak French, and you've lived in five different places, six if you include New York City. That isn't very much, Esca Rarity."

She couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sure there's more about me that you haven't thought of. You know I can cook. There's one."

"Ah, yes, how could I forget?" he mused. "You make the best pancakes the world can offer." After another moment, however, he stopped and announced, "We're here."

Esca looked ahead to see the glowing yellow shore of the lake. It was rather quiet, a nice luxury to have whilst in New York City, and deserted except for herself and Pietro. In the distance stood the Statue of Liberty, illuminated by countless spotlights so that it remained visible even in the dark. Seeing it, she grinned and moved forward eagerly, Pietro by her side.

"Look at it," she sighed. "It's beautiful."

Pietro and Esca both gazed at the structure in the distance; it was positively glowing like a great beacon of green light. It was silent for a moment, but then, Pietro turned back to Esca. "It **_is_** quite captivating—but I do not think it can compare with the lovely woman standing beside me."

The comment did not register for a split second, but when Esca realized what he had said, she flushed and brushed her hair forward to hide her face.

"Still hiding behind your hair, Esca Rarity?"

"Still **_calling_** me Esca Rarity?" she retorted. At last, she faced him full on and said, with a hopeless smirk, "That's not even my full name, you know."

Pietro looked like the world had been stolen out from underneath his feet. "Whaat," he exhaled, practically flopping to the ground. Esca gasped but laughed at his sudden movement—she felt herself being pulled down and allowed him to sit her down next to him. "What you do mean your full name isn't Esca Rarity?"

"I mean, it isn't my full name," repeated Esca, a guilty laugh on her face. "It's actually Evanesca Rarity Smithlandson… but I never tell anyone that. You should feel special."

He stared at her blankly, then declared, "I realize I wanted to get to know more about you, but I cannot believe your name isn't just Esca Rarity. My whole life is a lie!" This last was said as a shout, his hands extended to the sky as if to ask why this was happening.

Esca grasped his hands, laughing, and pulled them back down into his lap. "Relax, crazy," she sighed. "I never go by my full name. I always introduce myself as Esca Rarity."

"But now that I **_know,_** it won't be the same," he grumbled.

She sighed, knowing that there would be no winning against this man. Instead, she said, "All right, how about you tell me something about you that I would never guess in return?"

He decided that was fair. He thought for a moment before saying, "All right… Something that you don't know about me… well, my sister and I almost died when we were ten because Sokovia was being bombed."

"My goodness," gasped Esca, throwing a hand to her heart.

Pietro laughed. "I know what you're thinking—'wow, that escalated quickly!'"

Esca giggled, a tad uncertainly. "No, that's not… I mean, yes, but…" She trailed off, which was just as well, because Pietro was laughing.

"It's all right," he reassured her. "In all honesty, I only said that because I couldn't think of anything else to say."

"I see," replied Esca, shaking her head. "But I am sure that must have been terrifying."

"It was," he agreed solemnly. "We were trapped in our house for two days, expecting… someone to come and kill us. Luckily, we were rescued. But we… lost our parents that day."

Esca's smile faded entirely, and eyes morphed from interested to sympathetic. She placed a hand atop his and murmured, "I'm very sorry."

"Yeah, well," he sighed, looking back at the Statue of Liberty. "They would've wanted us to find our way in the world. I think we did." He glanced back at Esca and smiled. She quickly returned it.

After another second of quiet, he said, "I still want to hear more about you, Esca Rarity."

"Truth or truth?" she suggested with a short laugh.

He smirked, but replied, "Why the hell not?"

"Somewhere in Stark Tower, Steve is preparing for the speech he'll give you about your language when we return," mocked Esca, raising an eyebrow.

Pietro just snorted and shook his head before declaring, "All right, I'm asking you something first. I'll just go ahead and assume you're picking truth. So here's my question: why do you go by Esca Rarity and not your full name?"

"Delving right into the deep stuff, are we?" she queried, which made him laugh. With a sigh, she answered, "I did not have a good relationship with my parents. So I dropped my last name entirely because I did not want to be associated with them, and I shortened my first name to Esca because I knew they would never call me that. Plus, it's easier to say a five syllable name than a ten syllable name."

She glanced at Pietro once she finished and saw that he was watching her curiously. Knowing, however, that it was her turn to ask a question, she said, "Now it's my turn. What's the most embarrassing thing you've done?"

"Besides asking you what the best thing about living in Switzerland was?"

Esca giggled. "Besides that."

Pietro wasted no time before answering. "When Wanda and I were first learning how to control our powers, I ran as fast as I could down a flight of stairs and bashed my head through a wall."

Esca threw a hand up to her mouth, but it was too late to restrain her peal of laughter. She couldn't help but giggle relentlessly at the tale—Pietro was watching her, biting his lip as if to restrain from laughing himself.

"I'm sorry," she gasped through a deep breath. "I had not expected to hear that, I just… you have such great control over your power, and normally you are extremely smooth, and I really wasn't expecting that…"

"It's fine," he reassured her, shaking his head. "It wasn't my proudest moment."

"We all have those," she encouraged. "Now you ask me a question."

"All right. What are you thinking right now?"

"I'm thinking that I like talking to you," she replied immediately. "I like spending time with you. What are **_you_** thinking?"

"Many things," he replied, leaning back on his elbows. "I'm thinking that I'm very glad I met you in Sokovia, that I'm glad we are talking, and that I want to kiss you right now even though I know I shouldn't."

Esca had been smiling throughout his answer—but then she flushed a little at the last part. She blinked once and was glad she had been looking at the stars instead of at him, because she was sure he would see the shock and hesitance in her eyes if she had been. As it was, he softly requested, " ** _Now_** what are you thinking about?"

"I…" she started, but in truth, it was impossible to answer, because she was thinking so many different things at the same time. She was thinking that she'd like to kiss Pietro too, but at the same time she didn't, because it might lead them to become something more than she intended. "I'm thinking many things right now. To which are you referring?"

"All of them, I suppose. Or whatever you feel comfortable divulging."

Esca spent a second to gather her thoughts and relay them properly. "Very well. Half of me is thinking that I would like to kiss you too, although the other half is worried because if I **_do_** kiss you, I'll have to tell you more about myself, and I'm rather scared to do that."

"Why is that, Esca Rarity?" The shuffling of the sand let her know that he was moving, perhaps to face her.

"Because… well… I don't have the most angelic past," she sighed, flopping onto her back to look at what little there was of the stars. "I'd prefer… if we can avoid that… for now."

Whether it was the pleading in her voice or the fact that she did not look at him, Esca did not know, but Pietro refrained from persisting. It was quiet for a while; the only sounds were the honking cars and the shouting people from the streets. But then, Pietro said, "Very well, Esca Rarity. The last thing I would like to do would be to make you uncomfortable or upset. But it will cost you something."

"What will it cost?"

He moved forward and gently kissed her temple. "That," he replied simply.

Esca shuffled to look at him—seeing that he was looking back at her, she smiled and squirmed towards him, putting her head on his shoulder. "That was hardly a price I was reluctant to pay," she murmured.

He just smirked and replied, "Don't give me any more ideas, Esca Rarity, or I **_will_** kiss you."

She laughed lightly and looked at him. "Maybe I won't stop you."

Pietro looked back at her. "Is that a challenge, or an invitation?"

"Depends on how you interpret it, Pietro Maximoff."

He chuckled and gently brushed a stray piece of her blonde hair back behind her ear. "All right then," he murmured, his lips brushing hers—

" ** _Damn_** it," exclaimed Pietro suddenly, making Esca jolt and gasp in surprise. Seeing that he had shocked her, he quickly apologized before muttering, "Stupid phone." He pulled said stupid phone out of his pocket and, seeing that it was Tony, answered irately. " ** _What?_** "

"Ooh, feisty," said Tony's voice over the other line. "I just wanted to let you lovebirds know that the Tower's closing at midnight, and it's eleven-thirty."

"Can't FRIDAY just unlock the door for us?" retorted Pietro.

There was a moment of quiet, and then Tony said, "Oh, yeah…"

"Good-bye," exclaimed Pietro, and he hit the hang up button. As soon as he hit the button, he threw the phone into the grass beside him and Esca and groaned.

Esca giggled at his exasperation and kissed his forehead. "Perhaps we should go…"

"Yes, perhaps we should," he replied. With that, Esca got to her feet and went to grab Pietro's phone out of the grass. It took her a moment to find it, but she managed. When she returned, however, Pietro threw an arm around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her fiercely.

For a moment, she simply stood, paralyzed. But then, realizing she was perfectly okay with this, Esca closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him part her lips and taste her. His hands tightly gripped her waist, holding her body straight against his; it felt like he would never let her go, and part of her hoped that he wouldn't. Esca had never been kissed or held like **_that,_** as if it really meant something… She felt like a warm liquid was drizzled all throughout her body—she stood on tiptoe to wrap her fingers in his hair, and she moaned softly when he bit her lip.

She felt him smile at that—when he broke away, she stared at him quizzically.

He shrugged, but was grinning as he rested his forehead against hers. "You didn't see that coming?" he asked, his lips barely brushing hers, making Esca half-hope that he would kiss her again.

"Perhaps I should have," she replied, grinning herself.

"Sorry if it was abrupt, but I figured I wasn't going to let that old man kill my resolve."

"I'm glad he didn't," returned Esca, raising an eyebrow.

He kissed her again, though it was a quick, softer kiss, and murmured, "So am I. We should get back to the Tower before Tony starts spreading a rumor that we ran into a suspicious dark alleyway."

"He's probably at work spreading it right now."

"Although he might exaggerate and tell Steve that we're at a strip club."

"Oh, **_God,_** " Esca moaned. "Oh, let's hurry before our predictions become reality…"

He just laughed and took her hand in his before leading the way back to Stark Tower.


	12. The Great Prank War

Hello, all! Sorry for the late update; my family just flew in to come and visit! It's been a while since I've seen them... Anyway, here's the next chapter! But before it begins, a huge thanks to **Richelle Manuels, Marvel18, D, jewels1798,** and **loreleisand94** for their amazing reviews! Keep them coming, people, your feedback means the world to me! And a huge shout-out to my followers and favoriters... guys, I have over 100 favorites and 175 followers for this story. That's incredible... I never thought I'd get such positive feedback. So seriously, a HUGE thank you; you're all amazing, go eat some chocolate and do fun things!

On another note, if anyone is interested, I have a poll on my profile... feel free to check it out!

Now, I've had the idea for a prank war for a while... but a big thanks to **D** for confirming my certainty that this chapter would be a good idea... ;) Have a MARVELous day, everyone!

* * *

A week after Pietro took Esca to see the Statue of Liberty, things began to get messy in Stark Tower. The reason? A full-fledged prank war had been declared, and no one was safe.

It had started simply enough—Tony hardboiled all the eggs in the refrigerator so that Esca couldn't make omelets for breakfast one morning. She, to say the least, was exasperated, and the Avengers had to settle for cereal for breakfast.

Hearing what Tony had done, Pietro decided to avenge Esca, as she preferred not to encourage his childish games. Though she told him not to do anything stupid, he chose to ignore her, and thus crept into Tony's room, emptied all his bottles of shampoo and refilled them with syrup, and waited.

He and Esca had a good laugh when Steve had to run to the convenience store for a bottle of shampoo and extra-strength conditioner.

After this escapade, Clint apparently decided he was not to be left out, and so he pulled a prank on Pietro that involved making a giant vat of Jell-O and stuffing Pietro's favorite running shoes into it.

This, of course, led Wanda to levitate Clint's bow and arrows from the ceiling of the common area, which had **_very_** tall ceilings.

Naturally, Natasha soon retaliated by pranking Wanda, and Vision got back at Natasha for Wanda, and Steve got back at Vision for Natasha, and Thor punked Steve for Vision… The prank war kept going on and on, and while the pranks were nothing lethal, they were steadily becoming more and more irritating. Oftentimes they were held in the common area, when Esca was trying to cook—indeed, three days later, she was ambushed by Steve, Clint, Tony, Thor, and Pietro as they all shot her with silly Nerf guns that Tony had stashed in the Tower somewhere. Most of the darts ended up in the goulash she was making, which aggravated her something fierce.

After this incident, Esca called upon Wanda and Natasha to form a truce with her for the sake of getting back at the men. They knew that whatever they did had to be good… and they figured it would be.

On the seventh day of the prank war, Pietro staggered in the room stiffly, covered in something that Esca figured was baby powder while she and the other women were in the kitchen. She was making personalized desserts for everyone as Esca sighed and inquired, "What happened?"

"Stark… I got in the elevator and all I remember is a giant white cloud surrounding me… and he was laughing."

Esca sighed, trying to restrain from both grinning and rolling her eyes. "I told you not to retaliate the first time! Look what you've brought about because of your tomfoolery."

Pietro shrugged, then muttered, "I'm going to take a shower…"

"Assuming you don't get ambushed again," smirked Wanda.

"Better check your shampoo bottles!" warned Esca, remembering the prank Pietro had played on Tony.

Once he was gone, she sighed and looked to the other two. "So who are we targeting for this prank?"

Natasha smirked. "I call Clint."

"I want to target Vision," said Wanda.

"Good; then I'll get Pietro," confirmed Esca. "But I just want to make sure none of those three have any allergies at all with this stuff, because I don't want to have anyone get sick in the name of a stupid prank war—"

"Relax, Esca," laughed Nat, putting her feet up on the counter. "They'll be fine. None of them have allergies."

"If you say so," countered Esca with a shrug. "I just want to make sure…"

The other two women managed to convince her to let go of her worries, and the rest of the afternoon was spent relatively quietly. While Esca was finishing off the three lemon meringue pies they'd need, the trio heard Clint scream from somewhere upstairs, "AH! SNAKE!"

Promptly following Clint's shriek was a roar of laughter, probably from Thor, based on how deep the laugh was. What followed **_that_** was a strain of curses that made Esca put a hand to her forehead.

It took another three hours, but finally, the girls were all set up. They had the **_real_** dinner and set it aside so that the men wouldn't see it, and they had the **_other_** dinner that the men would remember for hopefully the rest of their lives…

At 6o'clock PM, Esca strategically set out a plate of caramel apples. She knew that Tony and Clint would be down at any moment, seeing as they were usually the first ones down for dinner. Esca's heart was beating abnormally fast, seeing as she couldn't wait to pull the prank but she also felt guilty about it already.

Only five minutes later, Tony's voice declared, "My, my, blondie, what have we **_here?_** "

"Caramel apples!" she declared, turning around and taking great care to put on a pretty smile. "I've never made them before, but I found a recipe on the Internet. Want to try one and give me some feedback?"

Tony grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Don't mind if I do!" With that, he plucked the biggest, fattest "apple" up and took a ginormous bite out of it.

His reaction was instantaneous. His eyes widened and he spat the caramel **_onion_** out of his mouth, gagging. Meanwhile, Natasha, Wanda, and Esca were all positively dying of laughter as he threw the onion in the trash.

"The hell?!" he gasped, barging past Esca to grab a glass of water—or beer, as it turned out. He quickly drank half the bottle before glaring at Esca and declaring, "That was mean."

"This is war," she replied, shrugging innocently. "I wanted omelets on Monday morning, and you wanted a caramel apple just now, but we can't all get what we want, can we?"

"Tell him, girl," smirked Natasha.

Tony just sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I suppose I should've expected this."

"Don't tell the others," said Wanda. "Let's see if any of them fall for the trick, too."

Unfortunately, the other men didn't want to spoil their appetite before dinner, and they refused the caramel onion. Despite that, there was still plenty of time to get them back, and hopefully inspire them to quit leaving booby traps around the Tower once and for all.

Once everyone was seated around the table as always, Esca brought in the bottles of Coca-Cola that she'd prepared. While the men didn't know it, she and the other women had strung a string through a Mento and twisted the caps on before using scissors to cut the wire from the outside. This made the bottles of Coke look normal—but once they'd be opened, chaos would ensue.

When the men raised their beverages to toast everyone's success at the prank war, Natasha, Wanda, and Esca all sprinted away the moment they opened the bottles.

 _SPLISH!_

Six bottles of soda simultaneously exploded, practically making a fountain in the air. The men all screamed in shock as the women lost it—when they looked back, there was soda **_everywhere._** In Thor's hair, soaking Tony's shirt, in Steve's nose… The six men glared at the women before grunting and groaning about how they were going to regret this.

"I promise," choked out Esca through her tears, "That the rest of dinner is normal. I promise."

Although Esca had just pulled two pranks—in Tony's case—in a row, the men seemed to think her word was sound. Seeing this, she went and got the **_real_** dinner so the Avengers could eat.

Despite the sticky beverage still dripping from the table, everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner. There was talk about forming alliances, forming clans… Esca tried to ask if maybe they'd consider actually stopping the war, but the others just looked at her as if she was crazy.

With a sigh, she muttered, "I thought not." It appeared she'd have to resort to the big guns.

Once dinner was over, she grinned prettily and exclaimed, "Now, I've made an arsenal of desserts, so Natasha, Wanda, if you could help me bring out the first type I made, please? Your help would be greatly appreciated."

This was the signal. Though Natasha had an **_excellent_** poker face, Wanda struggled to keep her grin off her face. Luckily, the men didn't seem to notice, as they were so enwrapped in their own thoughts about who to prank and how that they weren't focused on the threat at hand.

"Ready?" whispered Esca as she armed the two with the lemon meringue pies she'd made for solely this purpose.

"You bet your ass," grinned Natasha, an evil sparkle in her eye. Wanda did not say anything, but she nodded eagerly.

Not waiting for anyone else, Esca led the way, the pie aloft in her hand as if she were a waitress. She neared her place, where she had been sitting next to Pietro, as Nat approached Clint and Wanda neared Vision.

"Here we are!" exclaimed Esca in a sing-song voice. But before the men could express their astonishment, the three slammed the pies into Clint's, Vision's, and Pietro's faces.

There was dead astonishment as Steve, Thor, and Tony stared, bug-eyed, at their male compatriots. Their mouths were somewhat open in shock, as if thankful that they, too, hadn't been targeted.

Esca gently pried the pie off of Pietro's face. His eyes were tightly closed and his facial features were all scrunched up as if she'd just fed him a raw lemon. When he heard her start to laugh, however, he forcefully shoved as much icing as he could off his face and muttered menacingly, "Oh, you shouldn't have done **_that,_** Esca Rarity."

Seeing his expression, she just raised an eyebrow—before she could retort, he wiped a large streak of icing onto her cheek, which made her gasp and exclaim, "Don't you dare!"

"Oh, I'm daring!" he rejoined straight back, wiping more of it into her eyebrows and her hair. "You asked for it!"

Esca tried to run away from him, but of course Pietro was faster—he whirled back to her, picked her up, and poked her sides relentlessly, knowing that it tickled her like hell. She screeched and thrashed in his arms, shouting, "Pietro Max—Maximoff, put me **_d-down!_** AIGH! Nat?! **_Nat!_** "

As it turned out, Natasha was having her own problems. Clint was insistently throwing chunks of lemon slices at her, and of course his aim was perfect, so Nat was struggling to dodge all the citrus fruit being pelted her way. Wanda, meanwhile, was handing Vision a napkin while giggling at the android, who exclaimed mildly, "You might've just said something, Wanda."

At last, Pietro put Esca down, though he made doubly sure that she had a fair amount of frosting on her face as well. "Curse you, Esca Rarity," he muttered, raising an eyebrow. Or at least Esca **_thought_** he was raising an eyebrow—she couldn't tell what with the slice of lemon stuck to his face. "You do realize that someday, I will make you pay for that?"

"I think you've retaliated enough," she replied calmly, still shaking from how much he'd tickled her.

"We'll see about that."

"No, we won't! I hereby declare this prank war is over, or I won't cook anymore!"

Hearing this, the men all groaned and drearily promised her that they'd stop.

Esca laughed, as she actually hadn't been expecting for them to desist. "Well, thank you, gentlemen. As it is, I really **_did_** prepare desserts for tonight. I made one for each of us according to what our favorites are."

This earned a resounding cheer—but before Esca could go grab the sweets, Pietro seized her arm and kissed her cheek, never mind the icing on her face. He laughed, however, as he declared, "Great. Now I've got to go and take **_another_** shower after this."

"There are worse things in the world," she responded, trying not to laugh.

"There are—assuming I don't have another surprise waiting for me when I step in my bathroom."

That made her laugh despite her restraints—Pietro helped her serve the final course. Once everyone was done eating and once they had showered, he even helped Esca clean up the soaked rug and the table. He told her exaggerated stories of the many pranks that had taken place around Stark Tower the previous week, and often made her laugh with his ridiculous narrations.

Despite the thrill of pranking the Avengers, and despite the laughter he brought her at his tall tales, however, the best part of Esca's night was sitting on the couch with Pietro as they watched a movie— ** _without_** having to worry about being pranked.


	13. A Party With Many Revelations

Good afternoon! Chapter 13 is, obviously, now posted! Yay! Regarding Chapter 12, however, a huge thanks to **kittehx1, lovelyme9, D,** and my **Guest** for their reviews! Thank you, guys; and another HUGE thanks to all of you who've favorited and followed this story! You're amazing, the lot of you!

Also, just a little heads up... In case anyone was wondering about the outside summary of this story... That shall be explained soon. It's coming. *insert Game of Thrones "Winter Is Coming" meme here*

That's all for now, folks! Have a MARVELous day, everyone! :)

* * *

Another month passed in which Esca remained at Stark Tower; before long, it was two months since she had landed in New York City aboard the helicopter. Throughout the month, construction crews were scrambling to fix the last of Ultron's destruction. By this time, Esca had heard all about the Avengers' adventures, both in New York City and elsewhere. Steve had been her storyteller, seeing as she read aloud to him from _The Things They Carried_ and he wanted to repay the favor, but Clint and Pietro would join him sometimes and add in details that Steve might've forgotten.

The reason the construction crews were so fervently working was because the housewarming party for Esca and the Maximoffs was that Friday night. Tony had already relayed his extravagant plans by her—she approved them all because he was kind enough to organize such an event. But she did feel that he was perhaps going a little overboard.

Finally, it was the night of the party, and Esca, Natasha, Wanda, and Pepper had just returned from shopping. Pepper had returned from running her company at the end of Esca's first month at the Tower, and the women had quickly become friends, seeing as they were both down-to-earth and cared for the Avengers more than was often expressed. When the four women walked into the common area, Esca could only stare.

Everything was immaculate, and set up with great care. There were large tables around the edges of the room for food, the bar was neatly stocked, a pool table had been brought out, and the decoration was very elegant. It was a far cry from the common area normally.

"Goodness, Tony," exclaimed Esca. "Have **_you_** been at work!"

Tony just pointed to Pepper and exclaimed, "Sadly, I can't take most of the credit. Even though she had her executive company meeting or whatever, Pepper took charge of the design for this evening. I just do all the grunt work."

Esca turned to Pepper in astonishment. "How did you organize all this?"

"I don't mean to brag or anything, but interior decorating is one of my hobbies," replied Pepper, grinning and glancing at the ceiling as if to wave off her credit. "Parties are one of my favorite things."

"Speaking of parties, it's starting in two hours, so you'd better get ready," said Pietro. He had suddenly appeared next to them, which made Esca jump. Seeing that, he smirked and picked Wanda up before declaring, "Until tonight, Esca Rarity," and zooming off with his sister in his arms.

She sighed and, with her new dress in her bag, started walking to the stairs. She tried to hide the ridiculous smile on her face as Nat and Pepper joined her; for some reason, she was excited for the party.

Natasha and Esca got ready together, gabbing about who would be coming, can you introduce me to these people, what do you mean Tony's going to try and pressure me into drinking. They spent an hour on hair and make-up before deciding they were presentable.

When they descended back to the common area, most of the Avengers were there: Steve, Clint, Tony, and Thor. The men all noticed Natasha and Esca coming down, and they waved them forward.

"Well," said Steve, coming to the women. Nat just smirked at him while Esca grinned shyly. "Don't you two look amazing."

"Thank you, Steve," said Nat, but that was all she said before whapping his arm lightly and moving to stand by Clint.

Esca just glanced down at her dress—it was a long, dark blue gown with sheer short sleeves and a low-cut back. "I hope I'm not overdressed," she said quietly.

Steve chuckled and replied, "You don't need to worry about that. I'm just worried that some of our guests are going to get ideas. I may or may not have to hover over you and make sure no one sweeps you off your feet tonight."

She laughed and was about to respond, but then she yelped somewhat as she was picked up and raced off. It was, of course, Pietro. He stopped about ten feet away from Steve and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Like that?"

"Ah, it's just you, Maximoff," grumbled Steve. "For a minute, I thought I'd have to teach somebody a lesson."

Pietro just chuckled—Esca tried to squirm out of his arms. "Put me down, Pietro. You don't need to be so dramatic."

At her insistence, he let her down. Esca sighed and smoothed out her dress before glaring at him. "You could've just said hello," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"Where's the fun in that?" he retorted, but he had lost much of his joking manner as he looked at her. After a moment, he said, "While you are always lovely, tonight you are no less than stunning, Esca Rarity."

Esca couldn't keep the glare on her face after hearing that. The exasperation in her eyes melted, and she replied softly, "Thank you, Pietro."

Just then, Wanda and Vision came down, talking quietly. At the same time, a man burst in, exclaiming, "All right, first one to the party!"

"Rhodey!" shouted Tony, sauntering forward and clapping the man on the back. "Punctual as always."

"Yeah, well, I'm not missing a single minute of one of **_your_** parties, man," replied the man whose name must've been Rhodey. Knowing that Esca didn't know his friend, Tony summoned her over to meet him.

The party soon began. More and more people started pouring into Stark Tower, and Esca and the Maximoffs were shuffled around constantly to meet everyone who arrived. While Pietro seemed rather comfortable, Wanda and Esca were struggling to remember who was who, and to put themselves out there. Wanda especially seemed to want to take solace with Vision and Natasha instead of socialize with strangers.

As time went on, Pietro noticed both his sister's and Esca's discomfort, and he stuck closer to them. He grabbed Wanda's hand and murmured something in her ear—Wanda smirked and exclaimed, "Says Mr. Popular," before taking refuge in a corner of the room.

"What did you say?" asked Esca.

"I told her to sit down before she practically explodes with displeasure," chuckled Pietro. "No one else has arrived for a while, so I thought it would be good for her to sit down."

Esca nodded and glanced over her friends. Tony, Rhodey, Clint, and Thor were drinking something and laughing. Pepper was exasperated with their antics. Steve was chatting with a man named Sam Wilson. Wanda was being joined by Vision in the corner, and Natasha was storming towards a man in a tweed jacket.

She watched Nat and the man for a moment—even from ten feet away, Esca could hear Nat say, "Just shut up and come with me." Then she forcefully seized the man's arm and pulled him around the corner, much to Esca's confusion.

"What was that?" she asked Pietro, who had seen the display, too.

He glanced at her before murmuring, "That was Dr. Banner. It appears he's come back."

Esca swallowed, hoping for Banner's sake that Natasha had loosened up at the bar.

"Let's… head over to Steve and Sam," suggested Esca uncertainly. She didn't want to dwell on what might happen between Bruce and Natasha; just then, she bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, but seeing who it was, she grinned. "Hello, Robbie! I didn't know you were here!"

Robbie just raised his glass and grinned. "Natasha invited me, dear, and I wanted to congratulate you and Wanda! Is this Wanda's brother?" he asked, gesturing to Pietro.

"Oh, yes!" laughed Esca. "Please excuse my terrible manners—Robbie, this is Pietro. Pietro, this is Robbie. He works at Schwarma and has been excellent company when I visit."

The two appraised each other for a moment, but then they shook hands. "Congratulations to you as well," said Robbie, one of his silly grins on his face.

"Thank you," said Pietro, apparently deciding that he could hang out with Robbie.

"Here, why don't you come with us to meet Steve and Sam?" suggested Esca. With that, they made their way over to the two men, both of whom smiled upon seeing them.

Steve grinned at Esca and held an arm out for a hug. Esca gladly walked toward him and embraced the super-soldier, who announced, "See, she's like my sister. Everyone adores her."

Sam grinned and waved at Esca, who returned the gesture. "Nice to see you again, Miss Rarity," he said.

"Same to you, Sam," she responded truthfully. Out of everyone she had met, Sam had been one that Esca had gotten to know better. He had been an aerial military paramedic for a time—he and Steve had told her stories about when they took down HYDRA and SHIELD; in fact, they were getting into one of those stories now.

"Yeah, it wasn't easy," reminisced Sam. "Remember when we got captured? It was only thanks to Maria Hill that we got out. Bless that woman," he sighed.

"It was one of the few times I was bested in combat," said Steve with a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sure you still could've won," announced Esca generously.

Hearing her faith, Steve laughed. "I don't know, Miss Esca… Almost getting shot by that girl Zelda made me reconsider rejoining the battle. At least she prevented some others from killing me right on the spot."

"Zelda?" gasped Robbie, stepping backward. "You—know her?"

Steve narrowed his eyes somewhat. "She almost shot me in the head once. We also share a mutual acquaintance."

"James," said Robbie, raising an eyebrow. "He's your mutual acquaintance."

Steve stepped back as if he'd been punched. " ** _What?_** "

"They've been hiding from HYDRA the past two years," Robbie said slowly. He obviously knew that Steve had a connection with the man named James, and seemed hesitant as he continued. "After something happened, two years ago, they got out of New York. They didn't want to work for HYDRA anymore… They're in Salt Lake City… You aren't—thinking about hurting them, are you?" asked Robbie apprehensively. "They just want to live in peace."

Esca stared between the two, uncertain about what exactly was going on. It was obvious that whoever this James person was, Steve had a deep connection to. Zelda just happened to be the person that knew them both, and would ultimately lead Steve to James.

Steve swallowed and lowered his head. "Do you know for a fact that they're all right?"

"I do," confirmed Robbie. "I got a letter from her just a week ago. She's an elementary schoolteacher and he's doing something for their city government or whatever. They're very close to Zelda's cousin… and they're happy."

Esca saw the look on Robbie's face. It was obvious that he missed them more than he let on—meanwhile, the bittersweet pain that Steve felt was written all over his face.

"That's good," he said at last, clearing his throat. "I'm glad they're happy." And he quietly excused himself to grab another glass of water.

Robbie exchanged looks with Esca. "Do you think I made a mistake, telling him that?" he asked her anxiously.

She gazed at Steve's retreating back and was about to respond—though what she would've said she had no idea—but Sam got to it first. "No, man, it was a good thing you said what you did. Steve has been looking for his friend almost nonstop the past two years, and he hasn't been getting anywhere. I think he just needs some time to let the information soak in."

Hearing this, Robbie seemed somewhat comforted. Just then, Tony swaggered over, Clint on his heels. He stopped in front of Esca and declared, "Drink this." He thrust a glass of yellow and pink swirls in front of her.

"What is it?" asked Esca suspiciously.

"It's a daiquiri," he explained. "Mango and raspberry. It's delicious, and you like fruit, so I thought you'd enjoy it."

Esca couldn't help but laugh—it appeared that when Natasha said Tony would try to get her to drink, she had been right. "You know I can't drink yet, Tony. I'm not twenty-one."

Tony looked around theatrically before throwing his arms to the side. "Do you see any cops around here? Because I don't. This is my house, baby, and I helped set up this party for you. Now do me a favor and drink it because I want to see your face when you do."

With a sigh, Esca exchanged looks with Pietro, who was obviously amused. Then she glanced at Sam, who was chuckling. Clint was nodding frantically, gesturing for her to take the daiquiri. "If I take it, will you leave me alone?" asked Esca.

"Certainly. Cross my heart," smirked Tony.

With a sigh, she took the glass from his hands and drank from it. The beverage was sweeter than she'd anticipated, but in a good way. Esca decided she liked it—she finished the drink in one sitting. Then, handing Tony back the glass, she said, "There we are. Now don't try to convince me to get another one."

Tony and Clint bugged out at how quickly Esca had downed the beverage. "Holy shit!"

"Too bad Rogers isn't here to reprimand their language," murmured Pietro to Esca, which made her laugh.

Tony appeared not to have heard him. "That was quick! Where'd you learn to chug a drink like that?"

"Switzerland," replied Esca. "The legal drinking age there is eighteen. **_Not_** that I paid any attention to that, seeing as I lived there when I was sixteen and seventeen."

Clint whistled in astonishment. "Looks like you got yourself a bad girl, Maximoff."

Esca chuckled a little uneasily. What was Clint implying, exactly?

"Oh, yes, she's so **_dangerous,_** " mocked Pietro. "She's so dangerous she **_giggles_** when I do this." And he poked her in the side, which made Esca jump into the air and shriek.

"Pietro! You weren't supposed to let them know about that!"

But Tony and Clint were already laughing, and Sam was clapping Pietro on the shoulder. Esca knew she would find no support here, so she looked around for Wanda or Natasha, but they were unfortunately nowhere to be found. "Steve! I need you! They're bullying me again!" she announced, but she didn't see Steve anywhere, either.

Just then, Thor ambled up to Esca and loomed over her shoulder. "Who's bullying you?" he asked, crossing his arms and glaring at the men assembled in front of him.

Esca just giggled again. "Don't worry, Thor, I was only kidding."

"Very well," grinned the god, gently placing a hand on Esca's shoulder. "But I will have your back, if you need it."

"Thank you, Thor!" beamed Esca, raising an eyebrow in challenge at the other men.

Knowing that having a god as Esca's bodyguard might be bad for Tony and Clint, Pietro exclaimed, "Oh, look at the time, time for you to get some rest, Esca Rarity. Goodnight everyone!" And with that, he plucked Esca off the ground and skyrocketed up the stairs, Tony's and Clint's jeers following them.

In two seconds, once they were in front of Esca's door, Pietro kissed her suddenly. Esca, not expecting the gesture, gasped a little before returning the kiss. The moment she did, however, his lips trailed down her chin to her neck, which made her inhale sharply and shiver. Her hands were on his back, pulling him close to her; she started remembering the night on the lake, and she realized that he was holding her the same way. A burst of electricity spurred through her… was it possible he truly cared about her?

Maybe he did—but then Esca realized he wouldn't for long. At this thought, she pushed him away, raised an eyebrow, and mused, "Well, that was abrupt."

Pietro grinned knowingly and replied, "I know. I just couldn't hold it back any longer—I've wanted to do that all night. I'm sorry. Actually, I'm not really. But I knew if I didn't get you out of there to kiss you, Stark and Barton would've tormented you relentlessly."

"You were helping them," accused Esca.

"I certainly was not," he objected, pouting somewhat. She laughed at his expression as she remembered what Clint had said, that she was Pietro's girl. She wasn't sure how to feel about that…

He seemed to notice her discomfort and asked, "What is it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know… they're crazy," she laughed, trying to avoid the question.

"That's not going to work on me," declared Pietro, looking into her eyes. "You are bothered by something."

Knowing that he wouldn't let her go to sleep until she told him what she was thinking, Esca groaned and asked, "What… are we, Pietro? Friends? Or… something else? I don't know. The others obviously think one thing, but I am not certain."

"We are whatever you want us to be," he murmured, kissing her forehead. Esca looked down at the ground—what **_did_** she want?

She had wanted friends, and she had those now. She had wanted a best friend, and she was blessed to have both Natasha and Pietro. But did she want something more than that? If she did—but no, how would that happen? Being in a relationship with Pietro would mean she would have to tell him everything. It would mean risking losing him.

Could she take that risk? What if she lost him?

"Okay," was all she said. "Goodnight, Pietro."

And Esca embraced him before entering her room to sort out her thoughts.


	14. How Could You Ever Love Me?

Morning, all! As you can clearly see, I have the next chapter for you! Special thanks to **MarvelousMissFanfic, anonymouscsifan, Saint of the Sinners, ShipsThatFly, D,** and my **Guest** for reviewing! Your comments make my day, guys, so thanks so much! Also, a giant Internet hug to all my followers and favorites! I'm shooting for 200 followers at the end of this chapter... That would be soooo amazing!

I feel like I don't say this enough, so I'm gonna dedicate a paragraph to it-seriously, y'all, thanks a bajillion for reading my story. It means the world to know you enjoy it... I truly do hope it's to your liking, and I'm open to any suggestions or prompts to make it even better. Y'all are the reason this story exists, so give yourself a hand!

That's all I've got for you folks; have a MARVELous day! :)

* * *

The following morning was extremely quiet in Stark Tower.

Esca was the first one up; per regulations, she started to make breakfast for the others. As she cooked, she felt a little lonely, seeing as Steve was usually here, talking to her.

Wanda descended the stairs after a while, a small smile on her face. The two girls didn't say much to each other as they contentedly chewed their chocolate-chip pancakes… a conversation didn't start when Vision came down, either.

Before long, Thor arrived, and though he thanked Esca for the food like he always did, he was unnerved by the silence and therefore remained quiet too…

Natasha then came down, refusing breakfast. She simply sat on a couch and stared at the wall angrily—when Clint arrived in the common area, he sat next to her.

Finally, Tony stumbled noisily down the stairs, groaning about his monster hangover. Esca couldn't help but laugh at his moaning and say, "Shouldn't you be sleeping, then?"

"Maybe," he acknowledged, "But I can't get back to sleep."

"Do you want me to help?"

"No thanks, blondie. I'm hungry. Maybe food will help." With that, Tony began scarfing down his plate of chocolate-chip pancakes.

Pietro then ran downstairs, swiping his plate off the counter and causing a lot of the napkins to go flying into the air. He and Clint both laughed seeing the disturbance he had caused, although Esca only rolled her eyes and began to pick up the mess.

"Have any of you seen Steve?" she asked. She was growing worried about the captain and hoped that Robbie's words weren't bothering him…

Everyone shook their heads.

Seeing this, Esca said, "All right, I'll be right back." And without waiting for anyone to comment, she grabbed Steve's breakfast and began ascending the stairs to his room.

When she was outside his door, Esca knocked softly. "Steve?" she called.

There was no answer.

"Steve, may I come in?"

Still nothing.

With a sigh, Esca quietly opened the door. The lights were off, and the curtains were drawn. He was probably asleep—but when she turned on the light, Steve wasn't there.

Esca swallowed, but figured that he was probably down at the gym. After all, he went there every morning after breakfast. Maybe he'd just decided to skip breakfast.

Knowing this was perfectly likely, she took the elevator down to the gym. But when the doors opened, that was empty too.

Left with no other choice except to check the garage for any missing vehicles, Esca made one last detour. When she arrived at the garage, all of Tony's cars were present and accounted for—but Steve's motorcycle was gone.

Esca put a hand to her forehead and returned to the common area. She knew he might just be out for a drive or perhaps went out for breakfast for a change. There were many explanations for where he could be—but Esca still worried. He hadn't seemed himself after hearing where James was. She suspected that he might go to Salt Lake City…

When Esca returned to the common area, everyone could tell by her pale face that she didn't find Steve anywhere. "I think… he's going to Salt Lake City," murmured Esca. She didn't know what to do, except wait for him to come back.

Pietro moved forward and reassuringly put a hand over her own. "He'll come back."

"He will," sighed Nat. "He's probably gone to check on his friend and that friend's girlfriend. No need to worry, Esca," Nat added with a small smile. "Steve will be fine."

Esca placed what would've been Steve's breakfast back on the counter with a sigh. Seeing that he wouldn't be offending the captain, Tony seized the plate and started eating a second helping.

Seeing that she was still worried, Pietro carefully put an arm around her waist. "Don't you trust us?"

She nodded. "Of course I do."

"There you go, then," said Pietro, moving his arm and locking her pinkie with his.

Esca smiled sadly, but her gaze was directed to Bruce Banner, who had just come downstairs. "Hello there," she said in greeting—everyone else turned to see who Esca was talking to. Except for Pietro, Esca, and Natasha, everyone's mouths dropped open.

" ** _Banner!_** " roared Tony, throwing his arm around the scientist. "You bastard! Have you had any idea how worried we were about you? When did you get here?!"

"Last night," grumbled Nat, sinking into the couch a little more. Clint patted her arm reassuringly, clearly wondering what had happened between the two.

As the others moved forward to welcome Bruce back to Stark Tower—there were a lot of bro hugs—he caught sight of Esca and said, "Uh… hi. I don't believe we've met."

"We haven't," smiled Esca a little shyly. "My name is Esca Rarity. The Avengers picked me up at Sokovia."

"You've forgotten the part where you saved my life," remarked Pietro mildly. Seeing Banner's impressed look, he confirmed, "She did. She's an excellent healer."

Wanda smiled, but it was thin. "She somehow managed by herself."

Bruce seemed to understand the connotation underneath Wanda's comment, and he looked down at the ground. It was obvious he had nothing to say.

"It's all right," said Esca. She didn't want the doctor to be met with judgment and anger. She was sure that Banner had had good reason not to return for a while. "I'm sure everyone is simply glad to see you again, Dr. Banner."

"Please, call me Bruce," he requested, a miniscule yet grateful smile on his face.

Esca shook his outstretched hand. "All right, then… Bruce. Now come and eat some pancakes. I hope you like chocolate chips."

The previous silence melted away, as everyone was busy talking to Banner about where had he been, how are you, and other things like that.

Once most of them had left, it was only Esca, Pietro, Bruce, and Natasha. As Esca took care of dishes, she heard Bruce say, "Natasha… I think we need to talk."

"So do I," she retorted, and then she moved up from her spot on the couch and stiffly followed him to another room.

Once they too were gone, Pietro flinched. "Eesh," he muttered, which made Esca shoot him a look. "What?" he questioned defensively. "If Natasha had glared at **_me_** like that, I would've run straight out of here."

Esca just shook her head and focused on the dishes. She had done a lot of thinking the previous night. Though her final decision pained her somewhat, she had decided that she couldn't risk Pietro. If she were to get any closer to him, she'd have to relay her past. And then he would despise her forever.

She cared about him more than she had ever cared about anyone, which was why she had to keep him where he was. If she lost him, she'd be destroyed.

She was already in the hole pretty deep. She had to stop whatever they were before she completely fell for him and she lost him entirely once she told him who she was. Esca figured now was a time as good as any to say as much. "Pietro… is it all right if I talk to you?"

"Well, you're doing so already, so yes."

Here it went. "All right… You told me last night that we would be whatever I was okay with, and I thought a lot about that. I wish our friendship could be something more, Pietro. But… it can't."

Pietro's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion, but he was quiet. He only waited for Esca to explain herself, and she did so with a deep breath. "If I were to be in a relationship with you, it would mean risking losing you entirely. And I—cannot…"

"Perhaps you wouldn't be risking anything," announced Pietro, stepping in front of her. "You shouldn't be worried about losing me at all. Aren't things going… well… between us?"

Esca could hardly meet his eyes, but somehow, she managed. "They would be, if I were able to be in a relationship with you. That night we went to the lake… I shouldn't have done what I did, because I knew I had to tell you who I am. It was a moment of weakness, and I'm sorry for it."

"A moment of **_weakness?_** Are you trying to fight this? Why?"

"Because I was not always who I am today," she responded, taking more interest in the dishes she was washing. She scrubbed one of the plates aggressively as she added, "I was a monster, and you shall see me as one as well, and I shall lose you forever."

"You are utterly disillusioned. I may not have known you long, but it has been long enough for me to see that you are the most special person I have ever met. I care for you more than anyone save Wanda. You are beautiful and kind and everything I could ever need. It might be too early to say this, but I lo—"

" ** _Don't,_** " interrupted Esca, her face starchy white. "Don't say that. Do not tell me that before you know me. Because you **_don't,_** you don't know me, Pietro. You might think you care about me but you won't ** _._** I was a monster. I was an assassin. I was a whore. How could anyone ever love me?! You might think I'm beautiful and kind and innocent, but I'm **_not._** That's just my surface. You have only scratched that. You do not really love me, nor will you ever."

She slammed a plate down on the counter and accidentally broke it. With a sharp gasp, Esca recoiled her hand; a piece of ceramic had sliced across her palm, making a deep cut. She sighed and looked up at Pietro.

His eyes were hard, and underneath that was pain. Whether it was because of her voice or her words, Esca didn't know. But he looked sad, and angry. "For all those reasons for me not to love you, Esca Rarity, you have overlooked one thing."

"And what is that?" she challenged, her eyes narrowed.

"I do not care about your past. Do you know why? Because it was your **_past._** By no means does that define who you are today. You say you were a monster—are you now? Do you honestly believe that I would rebuff you because of things you once did? We've all done things we regret! We've all had moments where we thought we were monsters! Maybe you had a harder time of it than most, but the important thing is that you overcame it and became who you are today! And **_that_** is the girl I kissed by the lake, the girl I—" He stopped short and took a deep breath before shaking his head. "You are so enveloped with the fear that no one can love you that you push away everyone who **_does._** Think on **_that_** for a while."

Esca stared at him for a split second before she blinked and he was gone.

"No!" she shouted to the empty air around her. "Don't you do this! You can't just—you don't **_understand! You won't love me! You can't!_** AIGH!"

She threw another plate down onto the ground in a moment of blind fury. It shattered and scattered across the floor.

But the thing that made her the angriest was that she didn't know who she was yelling at: Pietro or herself.


	15. How Can I Not Love You?

Wow, you guys... 200 followers. That's a huge deal. Thank you all a bajillion for following this story! And like, 125 favorites too! HOLY CRAP. That's like, surpassing my wildest dreams for this story, so you all deserve a giant chocolate chip cookie or something awesome like that. Hmm hmm hmm hmm... maybe we can shoot for 100 reviews next! ;)

Per regulations, a big thanks to **Catsandorchids, WriterandDaydreamer4218, D,** and **MarvelousMissFanfic** for their reviews! Thanks so much for your comments, guys, they mean a lot to me!

I think that's all for today, folks! As usual, have a MARVELous day! Hope you enjoy! :)

* * *

Pietro didn't know where he was going, but he sure as hell wasn't staying in Stark Tower.

He had grabbed a jacket and sprinted away from Esca Rarity as fast as possible. Her words still stung him—how could she lead him on like that? How was she deluded into thinking she was unlovable? How could she possibly think he would hate her for who she was?

She said that he didn't know her—obviously, **_she_** didn't know him, either.

He didn't care who she had been. He wouldn't ever care. He just cared about who she **_was._**

He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket before walking down the street. Everything was busy in this city, but it still wasn't enough to distract him. Curse his short attention span.

Well, if Pietro couldn't forget about Esca Rarity's words, he could at least find an activity to let him vent his frustration.

With that, he raced off to the nearest lake that **_wasn't_** the one he had taken her to the other night. Within a minute, he was there, walking along the shore in search of some good spelunking rocks. It only took him ten minutes to find two dozen—he gathered a few more in a giant pile before beginning to toss them over the surface of the lake. With each throw, he tried to relinquish his anger and frustration.

Before long, he had to get more rocks. But once he gathered some more and started the activity again, a voice said, "If you are hoping to damage the lake, you will be disappointed."

Pietro dropped the rock in his hand and sighed. "I was hoping to get some peace and quiet," he declared, not turning around.

"Too bad," retorted Wanda, coming up next to him and picking up one of the rocks with her mind. "I sensed you were upset, so I came to you. What happened?"

"Like you don't know," smirked Pietro with angry humor. "You've probably already gone through the conversation three times."

Wanda crossed her arms, though the look on her face said she wanted to smack him upside the head. "I have not. I respect your privacy. Although, based on the look on your face, I assume it has something to do with Esca."

He glared down at another rock and threw it. This one had five skips—not his best attempt. "And what makes you say that?"

"You like her. Very much. You would not be so bothered if it didn't relate to her."

"Yeah, well, according to her, I **_can't_** like her ** _,_** " he grumbled. "Apparently I will never be able to love someone like her, who's supposedly such a horrid monster."

Wanda looked perplexed, but then her face morphed into sympathy. "You have to understand, she has been through a lot. I have seen it… She worries that she will lose you."

"So she pushes me away."

"So she will avoid the pain if she **_did_** lose you," corrected Wanda. "She has never had anyone to trust, Pietro. She doesn't know what it's like. She doesn't know if she is able to trust anyone with being her friend, much less with someone holding her heart. She was afraid that she would lose you, the person whom she is closest to trusting, if she were to tell you everything about herself."

"How do you know all this?" grunted Pietro as he spelunked another rock.

"Because I can read her," answered Wanda, rolling her eyes. "She is a human, too, Pietro. And she has been very happy these past few weeks. Now stop your ridiculous sport and let us go somewhere decent to discuss. I haven't seen much of New York City yet, nor have I seen much of you lately. You've been with Esca a lot."

Pietro scoffed, but jumped on her teasing tone. "As if I am the only one who has found friendship in another. What's going on with you and the Vision?"

Wanda stepped back and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen you," taunted Pietro. "You and he have been talking quite a lot recently. There have been some moments where I almost followed you two to make sure nothing **_interesting_** happened."

His sister just rolled her eyes again. "I will be able to sense you following us, Pietro. Why do you always forget that? At any rate, at least I don't use my powers in front of Vision all the time to show off."

Pietro just smirked and shrugged. "It takes time to get from one place to another. Why would I **_not_** use my speed to my advantage?"

Wanda looked thoroughly exasperated, and Pietro seized the opportunity to say, "By the way, I'm still twelve minutes older than you."

He got the reaction he was hoping for—she smacked him on the head and laughed. He soon joined in, as he had not spent much time with his sister lately, and he felt guilty about that. "Come on," he said, determined to make it up to her. "Let's go explore New York City. Then we can grab some lunch."

* * *

Three hours passed before the twins returned to Stark Tower. Although Pietro was less than eager to return, Wanda eventually managed to convince him.

Once they entered the elevator that would lead them to the common area, Wanda smiled at him and said, "I had fun today, Pietro. Thank you for spending the day with me."

"Of course, little sis," he said in a mocking voice—but then he became serious. "I enjoyed it too. Is it all right that every Thursday, we go out like this, you and me?"

Wanda smiled and grasped his hand. "Of course. It's nice that we have friends now, but I'd be very happy to spend more time with just my brother."

Pietro returned the smile; the elevator doors dinged open, and the twins were greeted with the smell of pizza. They stepped into the common area to see Stark, Barton, Pepper, Thor, Natasha, and Banner all lounging carelessly across the sofas and on the floor, a piece of pizza in each of their hands.

"Ah, there you are!" exclaimed Stark, leaping over Barton—who was lying on the floor—to reach the twins. He held his arms out in grand welcome and said, "We bought pizza tonight, kids. There's cheese, pepperoni, and meat lovers."

Wanda smiled and looked at Pietro before asking, "Where are the others?"

"Capsicle is still missing, Vision is somewhere around here, and blondie is in her room. She said she felt sick, so we've left her alone. Wanna go check on her, Maximoff?"

Pietro looked at Stark to see that he was looking at him strangely… it was as if Stark had a general idea of what happened. "I will soon," he replied at last. "But first, I'm starving."

He ran over to the pizza boxes, grabbed two slices, and ate them within five minutes. Barton, Stark, and Thor all looked impressed as he grabbed another two slices.

"We got to have an eating contest with this guy," announced Barton, grinning as Pietro finished off the third slice. "He's good, but I bet I can take him down."

"In your dreams," muttered Pietro through a mouthful of cheese pizza.

Wanda rolled her eyes again. "That's really charming, Pietro. Top notch manners."

He shrugged carelessly and returned his attention to his food.

"Blondie isn't here—there's no one to impress," said Stark with a smirk.

"Shut up, old man."

"In reality, if anyone here is going to beat him at an eating contest, it's going to be me," announced the voice that everyone expected least to hear—Bruce Banner's.

They all stared at him. "The other guy loves his pizza," he explained.

Natasha seemed to have the slightest smirk on her face as she heard this. Pietro noticed that they were sitting close together, barely close enough to hold hands.

After another few minutes of exchanging banter and trash-talk about who could eat the most, and the next time Esca Rarity made a breakfast of pancakes, it was on, Pietro excused himself to head back to his room. The others invited him back down for a round or two of videogames if he wanted, and he said he'd think about it.

When Pietro entered his room, however, he found something on the edge of his bed.

He picked it up and saw that it was a letter. In neat writing, he saw his name: _Pietro._

With a sigh, he opened the letter and began to read it:

 _I am very sorry about what I said earlier today. I was so caught up in my fear of my past that I let it control how I think and feel about you. I once told you that I never trusted anyone as much as I trust you… And while that is true, I am beginning to fear I do not know how to trust people properly, how to truly believe in them._

 _Another thing I told you was that I wanted to tell you who I was, little by little. I am going to amend my statement: I want to tell you everything as soon as possible. It was only when you left today that I realized how much you mean to me; if you wish it, I would like to try and apologize for everything that has happened._

 _If you wish to disregard this letter entirely and relinquish whatever we have become, I will not blame you. But if you are willing to forgive me and give me a chance to explain, I am on the roof of Stark Tower. I will probably be here for a while… I hope you've read this. If so, thank you._

 _Much Love, Esca Rarity (as if you didn't already know)_

Pietro sighed, yet smiled as he read the letter. He rolled his eyes upon reading the last paragraph—as if he would ever willingly let Esca Rarity go. After all, he loved her. He didn't say it aloud, nor would he for perhaps a while, but it was true.

Knowing that there was only one thing for it, he walked to the elevator so he could get to the roof.


	16. Facing Her Inner Demons

Good afternoon, everyone! I need your opinions on something... I'm thinking, right now, that I will have 25 chapters in this story that are more relevant to my little story-line. Another part of me, however, wants 30, although the extra five chapters would mostly be shorter Avenger/family fluff stuff. If I choose to do the 30, I would REALLY need some prompts from you lovely people, though. Which one would you rather have? Your opinions REALLY matter to me, so please let me know what you think!

As always, thanks a bunch to **Saint of the Sinners** and **D** for their reviews! You guys are awesome!

Special shout out to all my favorites and followers too! Like seriously, you guys are the bee's knees. Everyone give yourself a homeschooler high-five! :D

That's all, folks... Have a MARVELous day!

* * *

It had been an hour since Esca had written the letter and made her way onto the roof of Stark Tower. She had brought one of the books Pietro had bought her, but she couldn't bear to open it, knowing there was a possibility he didn't want to be with her anymore.

She swallowed. For another few minutes, she thought about what she would say to Pietro, if he came. Each time, however, the words sounded different, and didn't convey exactly what she wanted. With a resigned sigh, she continued to stare at the book in front of her.

"I may not read much, but I'm relatively sure that's not how you read a book."

Esca couldn't contain the smile that spread across her face. She wouldn't deny that she had worried he wouldn't come. "I could not concentrate on the pages long enough," she admitted, looking over her shoulder. Pietro was standing there, but seeing her sitting on the rooftop, he sat down too.

It was quiet for a moment, and Esca figured she better speak. "I'm glad you came," she murmured. "I just… want to tell you… I'm very sorry for—well, everything. I thought I would spare both you and I pain, but—"

"You don't need to apologize," Pietro interrupted her calmly. "You only need to tell me what you wish."

"Perhaps I wish to apologize," commented Esca mildly. Seeing the look on his face, however, she laughed and added, "Well, I do, if that was not clear in my letter. I also… want to tell you… about whom I once was, if only to relieve myself of the torturous thought that you will be repulsed by me."

Pietro opened his mouth to say something, but she quickly interjected. "I must ask you, however, to please… not say anything until I am finished. No one knows the whole story except perhaps Wanda, if she has unintentionally read my mind. It will be hard for me, I will not lie."

Hearing this, Pietro nodded and watched her intently. Then, after Esca gathered her thoughts, she said, "I know I haven't told you much about myself, but all I **_have_** told you was true, including what I said about having a poor relationship with my parents.

"My parents worked for HYDRA, and they were some of the highest-ranking members of the organization. They were so fascinated with their work that they didn't want to deal with me. I remember they used to tell me that I was a burden… But still, they grudgingly parented me, if only so I could become HYDRA too one day.

"When it became clear, however, that I did not wish to follow in their footsteps, they sent me to the Red Room. My parents figured that if I wouldn't work for HYDRA, I should be forced into it. I met Natasha there; she rescued me from being bullied by the other girls. She was the first person whom I ever dared trust. I never had any reason to regret becoming her friend—she kept me alive throughout many of my beatings, because I refused to kill. I would not hurt people, end their lives without a second thought like my parents. I would do all the other things the Nurses wanted, but I would not hurt anyone.

"Then, when I was ten, HYDRA was ready for human experimentation. My parents volunteered me without a second thought. I was brought out of the Red Room, away from my only friend, to Germany. There, I was experimented on, day after day, told that I would be HYDRA's newest monster. Their tests were quite painful, and I hated everyone I met except one man who was in the same position as me. I never knew his name, but he was called Soldier.

"One day, after they conducted more tests on me and discovered that I had no super anything, after three full years of their experimentation, one of the head experimenters… well. He went to extreme lengths to see if I had powers. He tortured me, physically, mentally. Then he did some other stuff to me that I—I feel like you know. The worst part about it was he called in his friends afterward, and let them ravage me like he did. I hated them all—I wanted to kill them. But I didn't, because I would **_not_** become a murderer, not even for my own vengeance. I was thirteen then. And I knew, from that day on, that I had to escape.

"It took lots of planning before I was able to run away. They almost caught me, but apparently I wasn't important enough for them to chase. So they jeered at me, calling me a monster as I ran further away. I didn't know where I was going. I ended up on the streets.

"It was only a matter of time before another man decided to use me to his pleasing. I tried to fight him, but I was weak. I couldn't do anything. But once he was done with me, he left me something. It was a five-dollar bill; a note beside it said, 'Get yourself something to eat.'

"It was then that I realized I could sell myself to get off the streets, to eventually make a life of my own. I didn't want to **_give up,_** I hadn't escaped HYDRA only to die by myself. So I started… a business. It didn't take long for me to become popular. Apparently, boys like blonde hair and blue eyes. It took a year, but I finally gathered enough money to transport myself to France. I went there in hopes of a better life.

"After getting off my bus, I walked to the country. I slept in a barn one night, and the farmer found me there. But instead of casting me away like I'd expected, he invited me in for breakfast. He turned out to speak English as well as French, and he immediately adopted me and enriched my knowledge of piano and taught me French. He bought me clothes and taught me how to farm. He was the closest thing to a family I ever had. And all I had to do to keep my place was go to school and become a strong young lady. That was all he ever asked.

"I could have stayed there forever. But somehow, HYDRA scientists got wind that their experiments took a while before showing signs of superpowers. When I went to town one day and saw a poster that had my face on it, I knew it was time to move on. I couldn't risk hurting the man or causing him to lose his farm. Nor could I risk being captured again. I had gone through too much to get dragged back to Germany.

"So it was off to Switzerland I went. I lived off the land there for a time; I learned what plants were edible, where the wild animals lived, and where to get the best view of the sunset. I went to town often and sold whatever berries or such I had gathered to keep myself alive. It was an honest life, and one I was proud of. Before long, I got a job at a restaurant, and I soon got a good promotion there. Unfortunately, I had some… unwanted advances from many of my male coworkers. I did not want to stoop to the level I had been at in Germany—nor did I want to be treated like I had been in HYDRA headquarters. So I left.

"I found myself in Sokovia. Even though I had no degree and I was eighteen years old, an elementary school hired me as a kindergarten teacher. I grew to like the town and the children I taught. I was able to afford an apartment, food, and all that I needed. I lived that way until Ultron's invasion.

"So… that's me. I was an assassin, though a very useless one. I was a monster—I still am. I was a prostitute, and a very successful one. I don't know how I avoided having children. It was only when I got to France that I started to redeem myself, if I can even call it that. I just started living more honestly, it wasn't even redemption. So there… that's my past. The end."

Esca was quiet, and she didn't dare look at Pietro for fear of what expression would be on his face. She kept her gaze resolutely on the cover of the book that still sat before her.

An eternity seemed to pass before he murmured, "I cannot believe this."

"I know," she whispered. When she blinked, she felt tears spiking her eyes. "I know, I'm not proud of—of everything I did, if I could change it, I would, but—"

"Esca Rarity, look at me. Right now."

Shocked by the fortitude in his voice, she blinked and looked at him. And she was beyond shocked to see that he looked sad, and not angry. The longer she looked at him, the more certain she was that he was not angry. Why wasn't he angry? Shouldn't he be?

"Esca Rarity," he said again, his eyes practically boring into her mind, "I cannot believe you thought I would hate you once I knew about your past."

Esca was dumbfounded. She had been made into a monster. She had sold her body. Wouldn't most people be repulsed by that?

She opened her mouth to say as much, but he cut her off. "All right, here's where **_I_** get to preach, and **_you_** have to listen.

"I am not angry with you in the slightest. You were manipulated by your parents, the HYDRA scientists, and the Nurses into thinking that you were useless, or that you were a monster. You never knew anything different. Those words were said to you so much that you believed them, but they aren't **_true._**

"You were a victim, Esca Rarity, not a monster. You weren't a coward for not killing someone, you were **_brave._** And while you may have started a business, you did so with the goal of finding a better life in mind. You only think that you're a monster, a mutant, or a whore because you've never had anyone tell you differently, but by God, I'm going to say it now. You are none of those things. You are brave, and strong, and determined. You were thrown into the worst situations, but you got yourself **_out._**

"Don't you dare tell me that you are a monster. Don't you dare tell me that you are anything less than who you are now. It wasn't by your design to have a hard life, but it was by your design that you got out of it. That being said, I would like to be your friend now more than ever. I would like more than that, but only if you do, too."

Esca had tears streaming down her face, but she managed to restrain a sob as Pietro finished, "You thought I would be repulsed by this, but if anything, I am drawn to you now more than ever. So there's what I'm thinking. The end."

For a moment, Esca simply looked at him. She wiped away the tears on her face and gasped, "Are you telling the truth?"

"Do you trust me?"

She sniffled, yet smiled. "More than anyone."

He smiled and, noticing her shiver, pulled her close. Esca had never felt so light before. It was like everything that had weighed her down had been shoved off her back, and she leaned into Pietro's arms in pure relief. He didn't hate her. In fact, he cared about her.

She thought for a moment, and then said his name. "Pietro?"

"Yes?"

"In my letter—I told you that my fear clouded how I felt about you."  
He was quiet for a moment before he said, "That reminds me, I should apologize for what I almost said this morning—"

"I really, really, really like you," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder. "And I really want to know more about you, and spend more time with you. I don't know what this means, but I just thought I should tell you."

Pietro swallowed and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for telling me," he murmured. "If it means anything, I really like you too."

She smiled again, trying to hold back tears of relief. After a moment, she heard him say, "Esca Rarity, will you look at me?"

Carefully, she removed her head from his shoulder and gazed at him. "What is it?"

He just chuckled softly and replied, "Nothing. I just wanted to do this." And he put a hand on the side of her face and kissed her softly—it was a short, fleeting gesture, but one that made Esca happier than anything. His hands rested lightly on her waist again, keeping her against him. She felt his lips kiss her forehead, her temple, and her lips again, and she felt loved. For the first time since France, she truly felt wanted. The realization was enough to make her cry again—the best thing about it was that Pietro was there to hold her, to confirm that he cared about her, something she thought no one could ever do.

After a moment, Pietro murmured, "If you like, we can either stay here or go back to the common area with the others."

Esca thought for a moment before responding. "Can we have just a few more minutes here? Then I'd be glad to join them."

"Of course," he replied, pulling her close again. Esca let herself be held, as it was the most comforting thing she'd experienced in a very long time. But when she and Pietro finally descended to the common area, as Tony and Clint started teasing them about coming down together, as Natasha forcefully told them to lay off, as Esca answered a phone call from Steve and he reassured her that he was all right, she realized that somehow, these people cared about her, too.


	17. The Manly Pancake Consumption Contest

Sorry for the wait, guys! I've been pretty busy lately. Luckily, I had enough time to update! Yay!

As always, a special thanks to **D,** **MissMarvelousFanfic, Shinigamidemidragonslayer99,** and my **Guest** for your reveiws! It means a lot to hear from you; I encourage everyone to shoot me a review with their thoughts!

And of course, a HUGE thank you to all my readers, followers, and favoriters. You guys are great. Like really, you're the bomb dot com. :)

That's all for now, folks. Have a MARVELous day!

* * *

The following morning, Esca awoke feeling wonderful. Without delay, she hopped up and, not bothering to change out of her sweatpants and tank top, trooped downstairs to make breakfast. When she arrived, a pleasant surprise was waiting for her.

" ** _Steve!_** " shrieked Esca, and she barreled into him. She hardly noticed the two people that were sitting across the counter, she was so happy to see the captain again. "You had me worried sick! I knew you were coming back today, but you didn't say you'd be here so early!"

Steve grinned and held her close. He even swung her around once before setting her down and explaining, a large grin on his face, "I wanted to surprise you. I am sorry I worried you, Miss Esca… there was something I had to do."

Esca just grinned and exclaimed, "It's all right. Thank you for the phone call last night." Then she looked at the two people across from him—one was a young woman in her twenties with light brown hair and caramel eyes. She was smiling slightly at Esca, which made Esca smile in turn. The other was one that Esca knew.

"Soldier?" she gasped.

The man blinked before his face lit up in recognition. "Esca?!"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, grinning. "You escaped!"

" ** _You_** escaped!" he retorted, and he leapt up from his chair. "Steve told me you'd be here. It's very good to see you again."

Esca laughed. "Trust me, it's a treat to see you too, after such a time… I've been worried about my friend," Esca announced, punching him in the arm. "Although at times, you were more like a dad."

"Sometimes, you made looking after you hard," muttered James, which made Esca laugh. She supposed that was true enough. "After all, you **_were_** twelve back then." Then, he turned to Steve and asked, "Is she your girlfriend?"

"Noo," exclaimed Steve, holding his hands up in surrender as Esca snickered at the expression on his face. "Miss Esca is like family, though under different circumstances, I would be honored if she were my girlfriend. But no, she's—are you two dating yet? Have I missed the official announcement?"

"Steve!" moaned Esca.

He just grinned and muttered, "Well, we're still waiting."

Esca just sighed and flipped her hair back before asking, "All right, how do you all feel about pancakes?"

Steve and James exchanged looks before nodding, their eyes wide.

"How about you, Zelda? I assume that's your name, anyway. Robbie told me."

"Robbie?!" exclaimed Zelda. "Is he all right? When did you meet him?"

"At Schwarma!" replied Esca brightly. "He was very good conversation. He came to the housewarming party that Tony threw me and the Maximoffs!"

"And that was one hell of a party," laughed Pietro. Hearing his voice, Esca turned around, but he was already gone.

Knowing what was coming, Esca's eyes widened. "Oh, no—AIGH!" The pan she'd been holding clattered to the counter as she was swept off her feet. When she was set back down, she swatted his arm and exclaimed, "A simple 'good morning' will suffice, Pietro Maximoff!"

"But that's boring," he announced before letting her return to her task.

Esca rolled her eyes, but introduced Pietro to James and Zelda. Then she and Steve, per regulations, started talking about simple things, such as where to go on a night out for the Avengers.

"We could go on a boat around the lake," suggested Steve.

The girl grinned. "I think that would be a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, I think Tony will want to do something with a little more pizzazz. Something to break Wanda and Bruce out of their shells."

"Bruce Banner?" questioned Steve; with a start, Esca realized he hadn't seen the doctor yet. So she proceeded to tell him about how Banner returned the night of the housewarming party, and that he'd come down afterward to see everyone.

At the end of her story, Steve just sighed. "That jerk," he muttered at last, which made her laugh. "We've been worried about him."

On cue, Bruce came downstairs, dressed in a suit as if ready to go to work. "Sorry for worrying you, Cap," he smirked. "At least, I assume you were talking about me."

They shared a quick bro-hug, and Steve introduced Bruce to James and Zelda.

Before long, everyone else was coming down for breakfast. One by one, they were introduced to James—or Bucky, as Steve called him—and Zelda. Natasha smirked as she came close to them. She pointed first at Zelda and exclaimed, "You shot at me. And **_you_** actually shot me. Twice. You did it about seven years ago as well." That last was said to James.

James shrugged helplessly. "Sorry. I had to do it."

"No worries. You have good aim."

And, to both Esca's and Steve's relief, they were quick friends.

Once all thirteen people were gathered in the common area, Esca served breakfast. Seeing what she was serving, Tony stood up and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Blondie, do you love all of us here?"

She grinned. "Of course."

"Then would you do us a favor? We—that is to say, the gentlemen in this group—have a little contest to enact. We need to see who can eat the most of your delicious pancakes, as all of us are rather certain that we can eat more than the other. In order for our challenge to take place, however… we will need more pancakes."

Esca blinked. "You want me to make more pancakes so you can stuff yourselves in order to prove your masculinity."

"And to designate bragging rights. Those are important too."

She sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "You're going to need to give me a few more minutes, then. How many pancakes do you think you'll need?"

"A lot," said Pietro, Thor, and Clint simultaneously.

With another exasperated sigh, she groaned, "All right, I'll make more pancakes. Pepper, do you know if there is more milk around the Tower? I think we're running a bit low."

"I'll go buy some more," said Pepper. "Anything else I should get while I'm at it?"

"Some vanilla, sugar, and bananas, perhaps?"

"Bananas?" queried Clint.

"I put bananas and chocolate chips in the pancakes, Legolas," said Esca without turning around to face him. "There's my great pancake secret."

There was a round of contented grumbling from the men as they discussed that no wonder she had the best pancakes around. Many of them started asking where she had learned to cook, what else did she know how to make, thank you for letting us have this challenge in the name of brotherly competition, and so on.

It only took another thirty minutes for Esca to have four dozen pancakes made, thanks to Steve and his invaluable help. Bruce, Pietro, Tony, Clint, Thor, and James were competing… Steve, although he would support his friends wholeheartedly, preferred to avoid getting sick. He reassured Esca that he loved her breakfasts as much as the others, however, which made her giggle.

"All right," announced Esca, placing the first round of three large chocolate-banana pancakes in front of each of the participants. "Here are my rules, as I am declaring myself the referee. Rule number one—if you puke, you're out of the competition. Rule number two—you can ask for anything you want to help you eat the pancakes. Rule number three—you are allowed to get up out of your seat, but you may not leave this room. Am I understood?"

The men nodded, their eyes on her as if they were trained dogs and she had a bone in her hand.

"Good," she mused, smirking somewhat. "If any of these rules are broken, I will disqualify you. Now go on and eat, you great pigs."

Tony and Clint roared with laughter at her halfhearted insult; then everyone tucked in. As the six opponents began to stuff their faces, the others—Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Esca, Vision, Zelda, and Pepper—watched with a horrified amusement, as if they wanted to support the activity but were somewhat repulsed by it at the same time.

Realizing that their first plates were almost gone, Esca enlisted Wanda's help in bringing out the second course. Since Esca had only prepared three courses, she quickly began making some more pancakes—Steve, having finished his **_normal sized_** breakfast, aided her again despite her futile protests.

After the second plate of pancakes, Clint groaned and stood up. He paced for a while; the others noticed. Thor chuckled and asked, through a mouthful of food, "Filling up, Barton?"

"Not likely," muttered the archer, plopping back down and eating with renewed spirit.

"Come on, Clint, I'm betting on you," supported Natasha.

It only took another ten minutes for Esca to have to serve the third round. About halfway through his eighth pancake, Clint surrendered, leaving only five remaining. But it was obvious that Tony and James were slowing down, too.

"Esca?" asked James, holding up a hand as if he were in a classroom.

Hearing that she was summoned, Esca flitted over to him. "Yes, James?"

"I may need some orange juice to help me out here."

"Coming right up," she laughed, sprinting to get James his beverage. When she gave it to him, he smiled gratefully and nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." With that, Esca moved back next to Zelda and Natasha, both of whom were shaking their heads in disbelief.

"Don't strain yourself, Buck," said Steve calmly, but Esca could see the concern in his eyes. "Everyone here has proved they can eat."

James just laughed and retorted, "It's all right, Steve. Being served an excessive amount of Esca's pancakes is the opposite of a problem."

After another ten minutes, Esca could contain the bubbling question no longer. "How are you four **_doing_** this?" It was four because Tony had finally admitted that he'd had enough, and that if he kept eating, he probably wouldn't fit into his Iron Man suit.

"Thor is a god, James is a super-soldier, Bruce has a giant friend to feed, and I have an incredibly rapid metabolism," answered Pietro, shoving yet another forkful of chocolate chips in his mouth.

Wanda snorted and announced, "I am going to pretend I do not know you."

"Oh, come on, you love me."

"I do, but sometimes you are **_such_** an idiot."

Pietro just chuckled and returned his attention to the food.

It took a half-hour for James to give—Zelda seemed glad that he did. Then Thor started to slow, which made Clint exclaim, "Come on, Thor, don't give up! I have five dollars on you!"

"I am sorry, my friend," sighed Thor, pushing his chair back and standing up. "But I must yield. I do, however, eagerly give Esca many thanks for making this one of the most delicious challenges known to mankind."

Hearing this very pretty form of gratitude, Esca grinned and reached to shake the god's hand—but then she figured a hug would be better suited. He smiled widely at her before leaning back to watch the two finalists.

Before long, cheers and shouts of encouragement were ringing throughout the room. Both Pietro and Bruce were starting to slow down, at almost the exact same time. Despite that, Esca grabbed the fifth plate of pancakes for them—this would be their thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth pancake, if either of them made it that far.

"Come on, Bruce!" bellowed Tony. "Show that little punk who's boss!"

"Let's go, Pietro!" exclaimed James. "Do it for Russia!" Zelda shook her head hopelessly, but supported Pietro with an encouraging grin as well.

Esca and Natasha simply exchanged looks and sighed, wondering **_why_** they tolerated those two idiots.

Within the next two minutes, however, Pietro and Bruce exchanged looks. Then, as one, they simultaneously shook their heads and exclaimed, "Nope," and walked away from the table, their hands in the air.

While James and Clint clucked in disappointment, Esca and Nat were rather relieved. Pietro and Bruce walked over to the nearest couches and flopped face-first upon them.

Esca laughed and sat next to Pietro as he groaned into the couch. "Perhaps this was a mistake," he mumbled, which made her shake her head and rub his shoulders.

"Perhaps. There comes a time when you have to relinquish your pride, you know."

"No. I do not surrender unless everyone else does too."

She simply sighed and looked at Wanda, as if to ask if Pietro was always this competitive.

Wanda nodded in affirmation.

Tony just laughed as he saw his friends sprawled across his furniture. "Well, you two better be ready to go out by Friday night, because we're going to go to karaoke night at the pub down the street!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "A pub, Stark?"

"A very decent pub, I promise," assured Tony. "Although, now that I think about it, it's more like a club. It has karaoke, a dance floor, and excellent margaritas. You should loosen up and try one, Capsicle, it'll do you a world of good."

Steve sighed. "You know I can't get drunk." He looked around as if to continue protesting the idea of visiting a pub, but at the words "karaoke" and "club," both Pepper and Natasha perked up. Seeing that the two were quite excited, he only shook his head, a small smile on his face, and said, "All right. Today is Tuesday, so you two have three days to digest."

"I'll need more time," groaned Bruce from the pillow his face was buried in.

"I second that."

Everyone laughed before heading their own ways, figuring that the two would probably skip eating the rest of the day—but by dinnertime, both Pietro and Bruce were devouring the food as eagerly as always.


	18. Happy Birthday, Esca Rarity (Part 1)

Hey, guys! I hope everyone (if you live in the USA) had an amazing Fourth of July! Lots of fireworks were fun... and they gave me a chapter idea, hehe. ;) If you aren't in the USA, I hope you had a spectacular Saturday!

Per regulations, a big thanks to **MissMarvelousFanfic, Saint of the Sinners,** and my **Guest** for their reviews! You guys are great! Thanks for your comments!

And of course, THANK YOU to all my readers, followers, and favoriters. You keep the story going, so thank you so much!

Some of you probably know of the poll on my profile asking me what to post next... I'd like to make sure everyone who wants to vote has done so! So here's your reminder: I'd like to write something that people will enjoy; your opinions are important! Vote on that poll! *insert thumbs up emoji here*

And that's all I've got for today, you lot. Have a MARVELous day! :)

* * *

Although life in Stark Tower remained normal for a few months, one day, Clint had to catch a flight to the farm where his family lived. His wife was in labor; once the baby was born—a healthy boy named Nathaniel Pietro Barton—he announced that he would become more of a guest at the Tower as opposed to a permanent resident, though he promised to visit.

Although Stark Tower wasn't exactly the same without Clint, Esca still felt right at home. She and Pietro were officially dating, and Tony was certainly giving them a hard time about it, even though he meant it in the most loving way. Or so he said.

Throughout the winter, Esca's relationships with everyone grew deeper. She loved each and every person in the Tower, and she had finally told them all about herself, as she was no longer afraid of losing any of them.

Pietro had been right upon saying that they only respected her more. Steve and Thor especially seemed to hold Esca in higher regard after she relayed her tale.

At long last, winter was over. Soon, it was April 7th, Esca's twenty-first birthday. On that day, she woke up surrounded by Tony, James, Pietro, Steve, Bruce, and Thor as they sang a horribly out of tune "Happy Birthday" song.

At first, Esca thought she was dreaming—but when it was apparent she was not, she burst out laughing before leaping out of bed to give them all giant hugs.

"This is only part one of a many part surprise," explained James, grinning. "Here comes part two."

Right on cue, Zelda, Pepper, Natasha, and Wanda entered the room, wheeling in a **_giant_** box. Esca's eyes widened seeing how huge it was. "Oh, you guys," she sighed. "You didn't have to do anything…"

"Nonsense," said Steve, pulling her forward for a big hug. "We wanted to." With that, he kissed her hand and said, "Now go open the box."

Esca grinned and tiptoed toward the package. It was beautifully wrapped, complete with the stereotypical big, red bow. She carefully undid that, but the moment she grabbed the lid of the box, it positively **_flew_** off.

Esca shrieked and jumped backward into Pietro's awaiting arms as Clint emerged from the box, shouting, "SURPRISE!" He had a cake in one hand and a huge grin on his face as he jumped forward and enveloped Esca in a hug.

Immediately, Esca forgave him for the terrible fright he'd given her. She was glad to see Clint again, as he'd been away for three months now. "Clint Barton!" she gasped, throwing her arms around him. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry blondie, but I wanted to make a dramatic entrance," he laughed. "I wouldn't miss your twenty-first birthday! You're like my little sister; I wanted to be here for you."

She grinned, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. Before she could say anything, however, Clint exclaimed, "Now someone cut this cake. Let's have Esca taste what **_we_** made for once."

Steve, however, just chuckled and said, "Only a few of us worked on the cake. The rest of us—"

"SHHHHH!" came a resounding chorus from Tony, Pietro, and Natasha.

"Capsicle, you'll ruin the rest of the surprise!" exclaimed Tony, although he didn't seem very bothered.

Esca raised an eyebrow, but she didn't say anything for the sake of said surprise. She watched as Thor attempted to cut the cake—unfortunately, his godly strength accidentally caused him to cut through the entire **_plate._**

Everyone laughed good-naturedly as the god shrugged and handed the knife to Pepper.

None of the Avengers tasted the cake until Esca had the first bite; she was astounded by how delicious it was. It was her favorite: strawberry with vanilla icing.

"You guys," she sighed, gazing up at them with a humongous grin on her face. "You may be the strongest agents of the entire world, but I am certain you have the biggest hearts."

This made everyone smile—Clint picked her up and sat her on his back as if she were getting a piggyback ride. "Yeah, well, you're worth going the extra mile for, blondie," he said, to which James and Pietro raised their plates of cake and shouted, "Hear, hear!"

Tony did the same. "I think everyone agrees—after all, you make us food. And it's **_delicious_**." Tony's eyes glazed over, reminiscing about all the dishes she'd made.

Wanda put a hand on Esca's shoulder and exclaimed, "You'd better get dressed. We have a big day planned for you!"

Esca nodded and told everyone she'd be ready in ten minutes. Satisfied, the Avengers tromped out save Pietro, who kissed her lightly and said, "Happy birthday, Esca Rarity."

She didn't get a chance to respond before he zoomed out, as always.

With a small grin, Esca quickly changed into the dress she had worn on her first "date" with Pietro—pink with white stripes.

In ten minutes, Esca was downstairs, she was so excited. As it was, the others must have been too, because Esca could only grab her sunhat before she was ushered out the door.

The day proceeded perfectly—she was brought to one of the tour boats where she got to closely see the Statue of Liberty, which was something Esca had been dying to do. They had a good time simply eating and laughing and talking; Esca couldn't keep a ginormous grin off her face when she saw Bruce wrap an arm around Natasha's waist. As it was, she nodded contently. It was about darn time something happened with those two, she thought.

Afterwards, everyone brought her to the bookstore, where Steve insisted that she let him buy her a book, because he **_really_** wanted to get her a present but he didn't know what kind of books were her favorite.

At this, Esca laughed and exclaimed, " ** _Any_** book is my favorite," and at Steve's thoughtfulness, she planted a kiss on his cheek.

The day went on, and apparently the group had to organize something back at Stark Tower, because it was established that Esca would be with a few people at a time. Clint insisted that he and Natasha would take the first shift; they wanted to bring her around Times Square. She had a wonderful time marveling at the splendor of the place.

Next, Steve, James, Zelda, and Tony brought Esca to go see a bit of a Yankees game. They were playing the Texas Rangers—Tony bought Esca a Chris Young jersey; despite the fact that she was wearing a dress, Esca put the jersey on over it. Zelda then bought a giant wad of cotton candy for them to share, and Steve and James teamed up and eventually managed to catch a foul ball for her.

"You guys are going to spoil me," she giggled, trying to juggle the cotton candy, the baseball, and a Yankees hat that Tony had just purchased.

"You deserve it, Esca," said another voice. "After all, you **_have_** made the twelve of us breakfast and dinner each day, without fail." Esca whirled around to see Bruce and Thor coming towards them. Seeing her happy shock, Bruce explained, "We're it. The rest of you are being summoned back to Stark Tower."

Another three hours progressed; Esca spent half of that time with Bruce and Thor at a gorgeous art museum, and the other half with Wanda and Pepper, shopping around the Big Apple. But at last, it appeared everyone was ready for her to return.

With her shopping bags in hand, the three women returned to Stark Tower. Instead of letting Esca meet everyone in the common area, however, Wanda insisted that Esca change into a formal dress.

Esca hurried to change into the dress, seeing as she wanted to know what was going on. She quickly tied her hair into a somewhat elegant knot before rushing downstairs.

When she arrived, her mouth dropped open. The common area had been transformed from a casual lounge to a club—colorful lights shone restlessly around the room, the bar was sufficiently stocked, music was playing from some speakers in the ceiling, and a wonderful home-style dinner was on the table… but no one was there.

"Hello?" she called, wondering where everyone was.

She heard something move, and Esca turned around—"ACK! PIETRO!"

He just laughed and dipped her close to the ground; although Esca knew he wouldn't let her go, she scrambled to be upright again. "Pi—Pietro!" she gasped. "I have two perfectly functional legs! Please let me use them!"

There was more laughter at this comment, and Esca realized that everyone had been hiding somewhere in the room. They finally emerged, however, upon hearing that Pietro had successfully pulled his ridiculous prank, and they gestured for Esca to sit down.

Bruce, Thor, Vision, and Steve all grinned and exclaimed, "We did most of the cooking for dinner. The others contributed to the ambiance or the cake."

"We almost blew up the kitchen," interjected Vision with a smirk as he gazed at Bruce and Thor. "It took time to convince these two that Steven and I knew what we were doing."

Esca laughed at that—then they began to eat. There was roast beef, baked macaroni and cheese, mixed vegetables, and country-style foods that Esca had had limited exposure to in the past. She delighted in the opportunity to experience it, however, and repetitively expressed her thanks to everyone in the room.

"Enough gratitude, already, blondie!" exclaimed Tony after a while, throwing his hands to his head as if she was physically hurting him. "We **_wanted_** to do this for you! Right, guys?"

There was resounding agreement throughout the room.

Once dinner was over, the Avengers all guided Esca to a corner of the room, where a few wrapped packages sat. She stared at them for a minute, bemused. "What's… going on?"

Zelda looked dazed. "They're presents, Esca! Haven't you ever gotten presents before?"

Esca blinked. "No. No, I haven't…"

Steve, seeing how moved she was, immediately threw an arm around her shoulder. "We wanted to make this the closest to a real birthday celebration that we could, so we got you presents, Miss Esca. It's an honor to treat you the way you deserve."

She smiled and shakily brushed her hair behind her ear. "You guys are… seriously the best people in the entire world."

Bruce smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. He was quite fatherly as he handed her one of the gifts and smiled, "Go ahead, don't be shy, Esca."

It took a while for Esca to open the gifts, because she didn't want to ruin the beautiful ribbons or completely tear through the paper. She was extremely touched to see that these were for her… Natasha and Clint had given her a pocketknife, Bruce and Tony gifted her a miniature robotics kit, Steve bought her the trilogy of _The Lord of the Rings,_ James and Zelda presented her with an old vintage record of the Beatles, Thor gave her a recording of Asgardian music, and Wanda, Pepper, and Vision promised to take her to the Central Park Zoo—they knew Esca loved animals.

When Esca stood up to thank everyone, she felt something cold slip around her neck. She gasped and shivered, but heard Pietro murmur, "Hold on—one moment—stupid clasp—there. Got it."

She blinked and lightly touched the necklace she now wore. It was a small, silver book, but as she took it in her hands, she realized it was a locket.

Esca opened it; inside was a picture of her and the same people who were in the room with her now. She blinked and noticed, on the back of the locket, an inscription: _Family._

She stared at Pietro for a moment, overcome with shock. She honestly had no idea what to say, because she knew that a simple "thank you" wouldn't be enough.

As it was, he just brushed a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear and said, "I know."

She nodded, tears spiking her eyes, and threw her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder.

Once she retreated, Esca began to give everyone hugs—but suddenly, Tony gasped in recollection and rushed over to the bar. He returned with a glass of red wine and handed it to her. "Now that you're twenty-one, you can't use the lame excuse that you aren't of age!"

He quickly served some more glasses of red wine to everyone else; even Vision, who had no special liking for the beverage. But he took it anyway at Tony's insistence. Then the billionaire turned to Pietro. "Maximoff, would you care to do the honors?"

Pietro grinned and swung an arm around Esca's waist. "I'd be honored to." He glanced over everyone assembled, shrugged, and said, "What is there to say about Esca Rarity that you don't already know? She's one of the greatest people we've been fortunate enough to meet. She's strong, smart, and sweet. I think it's safe to say that we all love her a great deal more than we sometimes admit. But that's why we're here tonight, isn't it? To Esca Rarity—without whom, I might add, I wouldn't be alive."

And he raised his glass; the rest of the Avengers quickly followed suit. Esca was staring at Pietro, trying to refrain from letting happy tears spark her eyes. As it was, when he looked at her, she quickly kissed his cheek before wiping her eyes and drinking from her glass, if only to get Tony off her back.

Satisfied that she had drunk the wine, Tony bellowed, "Now let's get this party started!"

The Avengers laughed as he cranked up the music, the lights, and rocked the dance floor, a martini in his hand. Seeing Esca, he rushed forward, seized her hand, and shouted, "I get first dibs on the birthday girl! Sorry, Maximoff!"

Pietro shook a fist at him, but Esca could tell he wasn't actually mad. She was glad for that, as she was busy laughing as Tony swung her around like the madman he was deep inside.

Seeing this, the others followed his lead, demanding their own dances with Esca, one after the other. Meanwhile, Esca herself had never been happier, as she was with her friends.


	19. Happy Birthday, Esca Rarity (Part 2)

Hey, guys! Sorry for the wait, I've been rather busy as of late! Wow that rhymed! Anyway, a big thank you to you all for waiting and for reading! You guys are the best for doing so, and following, and favoriting, and all that jazz. Seriously, you lot make my day. :)

A big thanks to **Saint of the Sinners** and **Cheshire Kitty 101** for their reviews as well! I love your comments, guys. Keep them coming!

Now, for something a little sad... I'm starting to feel a writer's block coming on with this story. I'm trying to push through it, because I want to finish it before I go to college and whatnot, but I'm worried that if I do, the quality will decrease. Naturally that is not fun. So if my updates become a little less often, I hope you will understand, because I want to make this the best it can be for you guys!

 **WARNING: This chapter may qualify for the "M" rating.** I don't think it's enough to rate the whole STORY as "M," but I just want to be safe!

Thanks for putting up with my long author's notes, by the way. This one is now at an end; have a MARVELous day, everyone!

* * *

The rest of the evening was spent dancing, drinking, and laughing with her friends. Esca loosened up and allowed herself to dance—she was good at it, as ballet was one thing the Nurses had taught her so she would master coordination and balance. While she danced with choreographed moves and a classical style, Clint, Tony, and Thor were practically spazzing out beside her, clearly for her entertainment. Nat had the same dancing style as Esca. Wanda, Pietro, Vision, and Steve preferred not to dance—but Bruce, at Natasha's insistence, eventually let himself be pulled along.

James, after spending some time with Zelda, forced Steve onto the dance floor, with the argument that Steve "needed to have some fun." Wanda and Vision eventually joined, as both Pepper and Natasha were summoning them. That left only Pietro on the sidelines.

Noticing this, Esca flitted over to him. "You should come and dance!"

Pietro chuckled uneasily. "I don't dance, Esca Rarity."

"Why not?"

"I can't do it."

"Sure you can! It might not be for everyone, I know, but—"

"No, I mean I **_literally_** cannot dance," elucidated Pietro. He looked reluctant to say as much, but with a great sigh he finished, "When it comes to dancing, I am perhaps the worst person on the planet. I am an absolute klutz when I try. Just ask Wanda…"

For a split second, Esca stared at him. Then she announced, "It's my birthday. You have to come and **_try,_** at least. Look, even Bruce is dancing!"

Bruce heard this and threw an arm around Natasha's shoulder before raising a wine glass. "Alcohol helps!"

"There's the spirit, Banner!" shouted Tony, doing the Macarena with Pepper, who was restraining hopeless giggles.

Pietro gazed back down at Esca and her pleading eyes. "Please?"

Clint shouted over then, "Come on, Maximoff! You saved my life, and I named my kid after you. Now she saved **_your_** life, and you owe her a dance! Plus, she's your girlfriend, so…" He shrugged and focused back on trying to sabotage Tony's Macarena.

With a groan, Pietro looked back at Esca. "Do I really have to?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, seizing his hand and yanking him to the dance floor with her.

At first, Esca was subject to laughter as Pietro just put his hand to his head and groaned. But when she grabbed his hands and helped him, he began to at least try for her. While Tony was not much better at dancing than Pietro, he was unable to make fun of him—Clint, however, kept his snarky remarks coming as Esca tried to teach her boyfriend how to dance. Before long, Wanda and Pepper walked over to try and help him out, although Natasha was having too much fun dancing with Bruce, and Esca didn't want to distract her. Seeing that the girls were determined to help him, Pietro was unable to shake them off.

After about fifteen minutes of this, however, he finally exclaimed, "All right, I've had enough!" and zoomed off, his hands in the air.

Esca laughed and bounded after him, handing him a beer bottle. "You look like you need this," she giggled. She was rewarded with a small smile.

"You have no idea." He popped the lid and quickly chugged half the bottle.

"So… Did you plan all this, too?" she asked, remembering the first date he'd set up for them, and how he had enlisted the Avengers' help to make it happen.

He nodded. "Everyone came up with the idea at practically the same time… I was just the head of who executed it."

Esca just laughed again. "I thought it would be you. Since that is the case…" She leaned toward him and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you. Today has been one of the best days of my life."

Now he smiled. "I'm very glad to hear it."

Just then, Steve barreled over to them. "Sorry Maximoff, but I'm stealing your best girl. I want to dance with her, as she's the birthday girl, and I haven't gotten to yet."

"Seems fair," replied Pietro. "Speaking of, I need to steal my sister…"

With that, Steve and Esca returned to the dance floor. Steve was very careful about putting his hand on her waist; he did not touch her skin, only the fabric of her dress. That made Esca laugh at his old-fashioned notions, but he just shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "How has your night been, Miss Esca?"

"It has been wonderful, Steve," she answered with a large smile on her face. "I have not had this much fun in ages."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," he remarked as he twirled her around underneath his arm. "We wanted to make this special for you."

"You have surpassed that goal. I will never forget tonight… It's the first time I've really celebrated my birthday with my family."

Hearing that made Steve stop short. He stared at her with puppy-like eyes for a moment before asking, "You think we're your family?"

"No," answered Esca. "I **_know_** you're my family." And she gave him a giant hug, as he was like her older brother and she loved him just as much as one. Steve grinned and ruffled her hair before kissing the side of her head.

Before long, it was two in the morning. At that time, Esca laughed and said, "I'm going to bed, you guys. It's getting late."

"But blondie!" protested Tony, his arms wide in challenge. "Sleep is for the weak!"

"Then it is a good thing I have no super-serum or unmatchable genius to set me apart," laughed Esca. "Besides, I get grumpy if I don't have enough sleep. I daresay you don't want to cross me if I have less than six hours of it. But honestly, thank you so much for—"

"We heard you the first hundred times, Esca," laughed Natasha. Bruce had an arm around her waist, which made the girl grin. "Now go get some sleep."

Esca nodded and located Pietro to say goodnight—he was with Wanda, but when he saw her, he kissed the side of Wanda's head and told her goodnight before setting off to walk with Esca.

It was silent for a while, until finally she said, "I really don't know how else to express my thanks for what you've done. It just… reaffirmed that… I'm very happy here, with all of you."

Pietro's eyes softened as he gazed at her. "You don't need to thank me. You deserve it. And… look, I've got to say this now before I lose my mind. I cannot keep it back any longer. I am in love with you, Esca Rarity. I have been for months, practically since the day I met you. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and I'm not being shallow and talking about your looks—although you are beautiful in that retrospect as well. I'm talking about your **_personality,_** who you are, who you've become. I love everything about you, from the way you hide your face when I compliment you, to the smirk you get whenever you tease someone, to your strange love of history and literature. You're the most special person I've ever met, and one of the best things that could've ever happened to me. And now I'll just shut up and conclude with happy birthday, Esca Rarity. I love you."

Esca stared at him for a split second before throwing her arms around his neck and exhaling, "I've finally figured out what this is. I've only figured it out, hearing you say that—I love you too. You're the first person I've ever truly loved… did you know that? For months, I've had no idea what I've been feeling for you, but now it's glaringly obvious—I love you."

She giggled a little and exclaimed, tears in her eyes, "This is what this is, God, I've never experienced it before—I love you."

Pietro grinned broadly and kissed her, his hand lightly against her face. Esca blinked and quickly responded to it, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her. She stood on tiptoe to be level with him and suddenly gasped when she realized he had backed her against her door. She shrieked a little when the door swung open and she almost toppled to the ground—a rip sounded through the air as Pietro yanked her toward him and held her so there were only a few inches between them.

Esca flushed. "Thank you," she murmured. "That was unexpected."

Pietro, however, had his eyes on the ceiling. "Esca Rarity, I think—I might've accidentally stepped on your dress…"

Esca looked down and saw that one of the shoulders of her dress was ripped, exposing half of her bra. With a discontented sigh, she moaned, "Drat, I loved that dress! I guess I'll have to get another one…" She looked back at Pietro, who still had his eyes on the ceiling. With a scoff, she asked, "Who are you, Saint Maria? It's a bra, Pietro, haven't you seen one before?"

He blinked and looked back at her. "Esca Rarity… did you just **_sass_** me?"

"I do that sometimes, yet you are always surprised. The fact that you haven't accustomed to it is cute."

" ** _Cute?!_** "

"Very," she confirmed. "It's positively adorable."

With each word she said, Esca realized Pietro was forcing her against the wall, as if to intimidate her. Seeing this, she taunted, "Oh, I see. So you're going to try and make me think I'm at your mercy? I'm afraid I've seen this before." With a smirk on her face, she gently placed her hands against Pietro's chest. He abruptly stopped, glaring at her. "You know how I dealt with those?" she asked softly.

He was silent and unmoving, his eyes dark with something Esca hoped was desire. If that were the case, the feeling was mutual.

"I punished them," she finished, raising an eyebrow. "Don't make me do it to you, too."

"Oh, please," he finally retorted, a low growl as his voice. He pressed her up against the wall; Esca's senses were alarmingly alert; she hadn't felt this way **_ever._** It was driving her crazy, making her breath shallow, and her only consolation was that she could tell he wanted her as much as she did him. But she felt both petrified and stirred as his lips gently descended her neck, trailing her collarbone before stopping where the neckline of her dress did. "You wouldn't do anything to me."

Despite how intoxicated she felt, Esca managed to laugh. "And we return to how cute you are." Before he could say anything, she gently slid her hands from his chest to his stomach. The touch was tantalizing—she could feel the outline of his muscles underneath his button-down shirt and wanted nothing more than to take said shirt off. To distract herself, she cocked her head sideways and declared, "You cannot beat me at my own game, Pietro. Perhaps you should come to terms with that."

"Damn siren," he muttered, swiftly grabbing her arm. His grip on Esca's wrist was almost painfully tight, but it made her inhale sharply and look into his eyes, which were still insanely dark. She took the opportunity and stepped forward, directly against him, and bit the crook of his neck. His other hand lightly trailed up her spine, which made her shiver violently and caused him to groan again. "We'll see about that, Esca Rarity."

Though Esca was sure she'd explode that very moment, her smirk grew. "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into," she murmured, letting him kiss her. Now he was the one lightly biting her neck—she moaned and involuntarily arched her back. She couldn't resist the flush that crept into her face at that… He'd found her weakest spot.

"Hah," chuckled Pietro, lightly cupping her face in his hand. "I'm winning," he taunted.

"Just wait. I save my best tricks for last," she retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you?"

"I do. And by the way—I'm **_great_** at finding weak spots. So don't get all high and mighty on me yet." Her fingers lightly trailed his spine, as she knew that if someone made a gesture to another, it was usually because it affected them in turn.

And Esca was right. She smirked as Pietro inhaled and cursed softly before kissing her neck again in retaliation. After a moment, Esca felt her dress slip off her body and felt him reach for the clasp of her bra; he cursed when he couldn't figure out how to remove it.

Esca couldn't help but laugh at that—but she exclaimed, "Excuse you, Pietro Maximoff. You are not getting my bra off while you still stand in front of me, fully clothed."

"Oh, my mistake," he retorted, obviously trying not to laugh himself. "Hit me with your best shot."

She chuckled and gazed at him through lidded eyes. "You shouldn't have said **_that._** " With that, Esca forced his shirt off him; for a moment, she simply marveled at how perfect he looked; but she was brought back to the present when he pulled her against him and kissed her again. When he did, however, the contact of his skin on hers made her feel exposed and utterly vulnerable—Pietro seemed to sense her momentary hesitance and kissed her forehead. "It's all right if you don't—"

"It's not that," she murmured, placing her head on his shoulder. "I just… I trust you more than I thought I would ever be able to trust anyone. And it's… liberating," she exhaled, her lips lightly skimming his neck. "It's an amazingly good feeling, to know I am capable of loving someone as much as I love you."

Pietro gently moved her back, his hands gripping her waist, and stared into her eyes as he replied, "Believe me, I understand what you mean."

Esca was astounded to see the truth in his gaze—and then she kissed him again, tightly grasping his shoulders, because she didn't care anymore. She loved him and nothing was ever going to change that. Not her past, not his, not her future. She barely realized that they were moving to her bed, that they were both not even half-clothed. She lost track of everything, drinking in the fact that she trusted him, she loved him, and it meant everything to her now.

As much as she wanted to forget Germany, Esca remembered everything about it, about her less than desirable profession. She remembered how to move, how to locate weak spots, the boys that bought her and how many she would take per day. Usually, it was nine. Maybe ten, if it was a good day.

But now, it had been five years since she'd ever slept with anyone; it had been five years since she had been this physically close to anyone. And she realized that despite all she'd done in Germany, she had been lacking something. Something that Pietro gave her now.

It wasn't having him take her and her taking him that she treasured. Although she did revel in the pleasure it brought her, as she'd never been in love with anyone she'd slept with before, what mattered most to Esca wasn't as fleeting as that.

It something far greater—it was having him steal her heart, a little at a time, until now, when it was finally and completely in his hands.

And with that brought a sense of completeness, of belonging, of being truly wanted and loved. She had that now, and she never wanted to let it go. As he lay next to her, watching her, she kissed his forehead and murmured, "I am hopelessly in love with you. Did you know that?"

"I do now," he replied, pulling her atop him. Esca smiled and closed her eyes. She could've stayed that way forever, his hands against her back, her arms around his neck, her head on his shoulder. "And I am ridiculously in love with you as well, in case you haven't noticed."

"It's not a competition," she giggled, kissing his shoulder.

"I daresay we just had that."

"That was crude."

"But it was **_true…_** "

"You are very confident for being the loser," she replied, looking up with a raised eyebrow.

"Excuse you, but I believe **_you_** are being the gracious loser."

"Wrong, sir. If your metabolism wasn't freakishly high, you would've fallen asleep twenty minutes ago. Don't make me prove you wrong tomorrow."

He just chuckled and kissed her forehead. "As if. Now get to sleep… You need it, and I've probably kept you up long enough."

She rolled her eyes, but before she could respond, he murmured, "I know I said it earlier, but I will say it again. Happy birthday, Esca Rarity. I love you."

Esca smiled and held him tighter, afraid to let him go. "Love you too, Pietro," she mumbled into his shoulder, and then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	20. How To Protect Your Woman

Hello there, lovely people! I hope everyone is having a spectacular day... I am, because I finished another chapter! Yay! I like updating. :)

As always, a giant thanks to my readers, followers, and favoriters! Seriously you guys are so cool! Thanks so much for reading my story! And of course, a big thank you to my reviewers, **loreleisand94, watchheart8969, Saint of the Sinners,** and **WriterandDaydreamer4218**! I love hearing comments from you guys, so thanks so much for your words!

Okay, so I'm still looking for prompts for family Avengers... I've gotten some good ones, but some ideas I had that I thought would originally work are just not long enough. Because of that, I'm still about three chapters short for ideas!

Last note, I promise: a big thanks to **watchheart8969** for pointing out a perfect song for Esca. It's called "Force of Nature" by Bea Miller and now I am officially obsessed with that song. It's pretty great. I think "Dark Side" by Kelly Clarkson also fits her... and "Robots and Aliens" by Forever the Sickest Kids is a Pietro song (I know the title is weird but trust me it works I looked up the lyrics XD). And that's just a random observation that I made and decided to share!

That's all for today, lovelies! Have a MARVELous day!

* * *

The next afternoon, Pietro was lounging in the common area with Barton, Stark, and Thor. They didn't know what to do—they'd hit the gym and made sandwiches for lunch. Now, in the early afternoon, they were bored.

"Want to go bowling?" suggested Barton.

"What is bowling?" asked Thor.

"Never mind. Maybe we could catch a movie."

"What's a movie?"

Barton looked thoroughly exasperated and started to explain what a movie was to Thor. Stark interjected bits and pieces about technical details that Pietro was sure the god wouldn't understand. Pietro, however, wasn't listening—Rogers had just come into the room, and the moment the captain saw him, he lowered his eyes to the floor. "Afternoon, gentlemen," he said, making a beeline for the kitchen.

Pietro, noticing his lack of contact, offered, "Want to come and join us, Cap? We're trying to figure out what to do today."

Rogers smiled somewhat, but made a point of not looking at Pietro. He opened his mouth to respond, but Pietro—who knew **_exactly_** what this was about—exclaimed indignantly, "I apologized already! Besides, you might have knocked or something."

This distracted Barton, Stark, and Thor. They looked between the two and asked, "What's going on?"

Pietro opened his mouth, but then James walked into the room, looking groggy. Rogers hustled over to him and asked if he would like any lunch, how are you feeling, I told you not to drink so much last night.

"You're not going to be able to avoid me forever, Cap," muttered Pietro, rolling his eyes.

"What happened?" asked Stark again, looking interested.

Too late, Pietro realized that perhaps he shouldn't have mentioned this in front of Stark. Oops. "Nothing important."

"Liar," grumbled Stark, looking like Christmas had been stolen from him. "I'll find out, you know. I always do."

Knowing that things could get real ugly real quick, Pietro sighed, "Let's just say that despite Steve's old-fashioned notions, he could do with a lesson regarding knocking."

For a moment, they stared at him bemusedly. But then Stark burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Ouch, Cap! That must've been something."

"I thought she was sick!" burst out Rogers, his face turning the exact shade of red it had become when he'd entered Esca Rarity's room that morning without knocking. Esca Rarity had been asleep, so she didn't notice, but Rogers had seen Pietro lying awake in her bed and noticed their clothes on the floor. "How was I supposed to—to—forget it," he sighed angrily, rushing to make himself and James something for lunch.

While Barton was snickering, Thor merely glanced around. "I do not understand."

"No need to worry, Point Break," replied Stark, slapping the god on the shoulder.

Thor frowned, but decided to let it go. "Anyway, back to our previous discussion—should we invite our female allies to join us at this movie? I know Romanoff is with Banner for lunch, and Wanda and Vision are somewhere around here—but where is Esca? Has she not awoken?"

Barton had trouble maintaining a poker face at Thor's question. "Probably still sleeping," he sniggered. "She must be exhausted after last night."

"Exceptionally fatigued," added Stark, shooting Pietro a crooked grin. "Her very constitution must be shattered."

Pietro's eyes narrowed. He didn't quite like how they were insinuating what happened. At any rate, they were exceptionally wrong. He would never admit it out loud, but he had gravely underestimated Esca Rarity. At least now he knew not to do that again.

"Cut it out, guys," he muttered.

Stark just smirked. "You've been dating for six months! Allow us to have our fun. You **_do_** realize we've been waiting for this for—"

"Enough," snapped Rogers, his face red with anger as opposed to embarrassment. "Do not degrade her like that. You two should be ashamed of yourselves. If we were to bother you about… about Pepper or Laura like that, I don't think you'd like it much. Don't you agree, Buck?"

James nodded. "Sorry guys, but I'm with Steve and Pietro. If anyone ever insulted Zelda, I'd throw them into a beverage table. I've actually done that before, and that was just when the guy made her feel intimidated."

Steve frowned. "What happened after that?"

James's face grew dark. "He used her. So I killed him."

There was a silence in which everyone just stared at each other. It was like a giant elephant had barged into the common area and sat on the coffee table; but then they heard the elevator ding, footsteps around the corner, a bang and, "Ouch! Crap!" and suddenly, Esca Rarity was running into the common area, squeezing a towel to her wet hair. An extremely apologetic look was on her face. "Guys, I'm really sorry! I totally overslept—and missed breakfast—and have you had lunch yet? Or is it too late?"

Pietro was about to say it was perfectly fine and that she deserved the day off, but Stark spoke up first. "No worries, blondie, you needed the rest. It was a helluva party last night."

Esca Rarity nodded and sighed in relief. "Got that right," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe I let you sucker me into drinking another beer, Tony."

Stark just chuckled and waved his hand.

Now that she had calmed down, she glanced over everyone and smiled. "So… what's going on? Where are Nat, Wanda, Bruce, Zelda, and Vision?"

"They're out for a day on the town," replied another voice. Everyone looked over and saw Zelda, who was wearing sweatpants and a tank top. "If I heard correctly, the men were thinking about watching a movie."

Esca Rarity beamed, which made Pietro's chest hurt. Even though she had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing a plain t-shirt with jean shorts, she was incredibly beautiful. He couldn't help but think of the previous night, and the things he'd done to her beautiful body.

As abruptly as the memories entered his head, he shook them loose. The last thing he needed was for Wanda to come back and read his mind or something. Actually, that would be mortifying, because she was his little sister, and he didn't care that she was only twelve minutes younger than him she wouldn't be allowed to date or do any of that stuff until she was thirty.

He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. As if Wanda would ever listen to him, anyway.

"You guys want to head to the bar down the street tonight?" asked Stark, bringing Pietro back to the present.

"Sure," replied almost everyone. Zelda said something about needing to meet Robbie for dinner, but Stark reassured her that he'd be welcome, too.

"All right—eight o'clock, we'll meet here. Don't be late or I'll leave your ass."

"Better watch your mouth, Stark, or Steve'll come after you with a bar of soap," smirked James, throwing his arm over the captain's shoulder.

Rogers just shoved James to the side, which made the ex-assassin laugh.

With that, Barton and Stark resumed their lecture about what a movie was to Thor, and once they were done, they plugged in _Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban_ and settled down for the next few hours.

* * *

Seven hours later, everyone was ready. Natasha, Banner, Wanda, and Vision had all been informed of the plans. Rogers was trying to tell James the basics about bars, and the do's and don't's of a night out. James seemed a little exasperated as Zelda had taught him most of it already, but for the sake of Rogers feeling better, he let the captain continue.

When Esca Rarity came down, Pietro's mouth dried. She had her hair in a long ponytail, and she was wearing a black crop-top with silver shorts. She also wore make-up, which was uncommon; she looked confident with herself, but when she approached him and asked shyly, "Am I dressed right for this?" she was as timid as always.

"Who cares? You look stunning," replied Pietro, making sure to lock his pinkie finger with hers.

Esca Rarity smiled at him, and he kissed the top of her head before hearing Stark announce, "All right, Avengers—move out!"

Within the next few minutes, they were at the pub. It wasn't super crowded as it was a Thursday night; Pietro figured it wasn't filled to its maximum potential. Still, there were quite a few people. When he looked down at Esca Rarity, he saw that she was fidgeting uncomfortably.

"It'll be all right. Promise," he whispered, knowing she was anxious around new people.

She nodded gratefully and tightened her hold on his pinkie finger.

Ten minutes passed, and Natasha, Barton, Thor, Zelda, James, Pepper, and Stark were on the dance floor, most of them having popped open a bottle of beer or requesting some mixed drink to help them have some fun. The rest of them, however, preferred to sit on the sidelines, at least for a while.

Rogers, Wanda, Vision, Banner, Esca Rarity, and himself simply watched their compatriots before beginning a conversation about the movie they'd watched. Apparently, Esca Rarity had never seen the Harry Potter movies, though she'd read the books many times. She soon requested to have a marathon of the movies, which made Wanda exclaim excitedly and begin a passionate rant about the series.

Pietro smiled as his sister went on—other than himself, those books had been her rock whenever their parents had died… For a while, she was convinced that she would get a letter to Hogwarts any day. Pietro remembered when she had received a letter from "Harry" declaring that she would be welcome to come and visit anytime they visited London.

"And I would like to be there, of course, whenever you finish," exclaimed Wanda at last, apparently done with her spiel.

Esca Rarity giggled. "I wouldn't dream of finishing without you, Wanda."

Pietro smiled at that. She was unfalteringly kind, as always.

More time passed in which people on the dance floor began to swap out with people on the sidelines. Before long, Pietro was with James and Rogers, casually drinking a beer, while the others were all in the middle of the crowd. He and Rogers were attempting to fill James in on the Ultron adventure—Rogers was doing a better job telling it, as he'd fought Ultron the entire time, and Pietro… he didn't like recalling that he'd **_helped_** the android for a period of time.

Pietro smiled as he watched Rogers and James talk. It was obvious that the two had a friendship that ran deeper than anyone knew—he took a swig of his drink and looked out to find Wanda and spend some quality time with his sister.

She was nowhere in sight, but Pietro found something else that made his blood boil.

Esca Rarity was on the outskirts of the floor, as if she had been about to come join himself, Rogers, and James—but a giant of a man with dark hair and darker eyes was gripping her wrist, leaning close to her face. She was trying to peacefully talk herself out of her situation, but when she saw Pietro looking at her, her eyes widened in an obvious cry for help.

Red entered Pietro's vision—he suddenly knew how James had been able to kill the man that used Zelda. This man was going to regret even **_looking_** at Esca Rarity.

"James," said Pietro, his voice abnormally cold and serious. Both James and Rogers looked at him, followed his line of sight, and inhaled sharply. "Hold my beer."

James immediately took the drink, and Pietro speed-walked over to Esca Rarity and the man, who was starting to pull her towards him and lean closer to her face.

"Hey!" shouted Pietro, yanking Esca Rarity free of his grip. "Back off."

The man frowned. He wasn't as drunk as Pietro had anticipated, which made him even angrier. There was no excuse for his behavior now. "No, **_you_** back off. Whataya think you're tryin' to do? I found her first, see?"

"She's. My. Girlfriend. Now get out of here before you start something you won't win."

"Pietro," gasped Esca Rarity, weakly pulling at his arm. "Let's just go back to Steve."

"No," he retorted sharply. "This idiot tried to hurt you."

"I agree with Maximoff. At any rate, Steve is right here," said the captain's voice. Pietro didn't have to look back to know that Rogers and James were right behind him. Still, he looked back—and was shocked to see Stark, Thor, Barton, Natasha, Vision, Wanda, and Banner standing with them, too.

"It's all right, guys. I've got this," muttered Pietro. As grateful as he was for his friends and their willingness to help, Esca Rarity was **_his_** girlfriend. And **_he_** would be the one to protect her from scum like this that lusted after her.

"You sure, Maximoff?" asked Rogers.

Pietro turned to gaze at the captain; he looked across his friends' faces and answered in a deadly serious voice, "I'm sure."

They all glanced at one another, but drizzled back to where Rogers and James had been standing, watching beadily, ready to jump in if Pietro should require their aid.

"Be careful, Pietro," murmured Wanda, placing a hand on his arm. Her brown eyes flashed the way they always did whenever she attempted to read someone. "Sometimes, things are not worth your time. Perhaps this is one of them."

He chuckled, but replied, "If this isn't worth my time, Wanda, nothing is."

She looked worried, but hearing the fortitude in his voice, she left as well. That left only Esca Rarity, whose gorgeous blue eyes were boring into his pleadingly. "Pietro, I don't want to start anything. Please, let's… go back and drink something, relax for a while."

"You should listen to your pretty li'l prize," slurred the dark-haired man. "You're out of your depth, kid. Why don't you let the girl choose—"

"I choose Pietro," exclaimed Esca Rarity before the man could even finish. She pulled weakly on his arm again and murmured, "Come on, it's not worth it."

The man, however, grabbed her arm again, which made her yelp. "You gotta be kiddin'," he spat, glaring at Esca Rarity. "You're seriously goin' with this punk? You're nothin' but a lowdown slut."

Pietro had heard enough. "Don't you **_ever_** talk to her like that again!" he roared, and he grabbed the man's shirt collar and threw him over the bar, he was so furious. There was a mighty crash as the man sprawled atop the counter before rolling over and landing on shards of glass with a loud groan. Bottles of the drink were spilling all over the floor, and after a split second of silence throughout the entire establishment, Pietro heard Stark shout, "Not the Moscato! **_Really,_** Maximoff?! You couldn't have aimed for the tequila?!"

Pietro just cracked his knuckles and glared around the bar, letting everyone know they better not lay a hand on his girl or they'd be next.

The other men seemed to register this threat, and they beelined away from Esca Rarity. A smirk appeared on Pietro's face after this.

Once he turned back to her, she blinked and stared up at him.

"Wow," she exhaled at last. "That was… something. I didn't expect…"

Pietro's smirk grew. "Nobody messes with my girl."

She smiled shyly and, remembering that she couldn't hide behind her blonde hair because it was in a ponytail, put a hand to her face. "That was impressive, but you didn't really have to do that …"

He shrugged, yet kissed her forehead. "You're my girlfriend, and I love you. Protecting you is my job."

Esca Rarity smiled and sighed, "Then thank you, Pietro. Now really, let's go back to the others. I think we'll be all right for the rest of the night."

He nodded and escorted her to the Avengers, where James returned his drink. "Thanks," grinned Pietro; he'd quite forgotten that he had a beverage. As it was, he walked over to the splintered remains of the counter, grabbed a miraculously undamaged bottle of Moscato and slapped it into Stark's hand. "Help yourself. Just do me a favor and get Esca Rarity to try this."

Stark wiggled his eyebrows. "Don't mind if I do!"

With a laugh, Pietro then witnessed Stark trying to convince Esca Rarity to have just one more glass of wine—he put an arm around her waist and pulled her close. A warm feeling spread throughout him as he realized he'd passed his own test. He had proven that he could and would protect her from anything or anyone that came their way.

* * *

A/N: May I just say that "James. Hold my beer." is one of my favorite lines. You KNOW it's about to get real when Pietro Maximoff hands off his drink.

That is all. Carry on! :)


	21. Part of the Team

Guys. Twenty-five THOUSAND views. That. Is. Incredible. Thank you all SO VERY MUCH. I never thought this was possible for this little story, so thank you again and times infinity. Whether you are a reader, a follower, a favoriter, or a reviewer (props to **Amelia St. Claire, Saint of the Sinners, zombie-hunt,** and my two **Guests** for their reviews!), you are all so important to this story and to me... Love you bunches!

Okay, so a couple things: unfortunately, I cannot reply to Guest reviews personally, so I will do so here. It was asked if I will have a main plot point... my main plot was Esca trying to forget her past and realize she could be loved. That was honestly the main plot, as most of my other fics have super hard plots, but I wanted this one to be more fluff than anything. This chapter, posted below, is perhaps the climax of Esca wondering, "Can I be faced with my past and walk away okay?" And that is about the extent of my plot. The rest is fluffy marshmallows... Hopefully that will be okay. :)

On another note, I have posted another story! It's called _As You Wish, Your Majesty,_ and takes place during the 1st Avengers movie in which Loki is trying to take over Earth. My summary is this: _Verity Noble has always believed in one thing: order. Everything needs order, including humanity. When she discovers a God of Mischief is planning to rule Earth, she grows intrigued about if it is truly possible. After some time, however, she begins to wonder... does she support him because she wants to bring order to the world? Or is it something else? (Might be M eventually)._

I'm going to be posting a second chapter up there whether I get feedback or not, just because I don't want it to be a "one and done," ya know? But feedback from you lovely people would be greatly appreciated!

SO SORRY for the long note. Hopefully I didn't bore you to death! Have a MARVELous day, everybody! :)

* * *

The next morning, when Esca awoke, she yawned, stretched, and kissed Pietro good morning only to notice that he had a troubled look on his face. Seeing this, she frowned and asked, "What's the matter?"

He sighed and tried to smile. "Nothing you need to worry about," he murmured gently. "It'll be all right."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself," she exclaimed, her puzzled frown deepening. "Pietro, you know you don't have to hide anything from me. What's this all about?"

Pietro sighed, but pulled out his phone. There was a message from Tony on it that read, _Previous HYDRA agent located in New York. FRIDAY said there were bombs in his bag. Dude's name is Alaric Otho. We should probably track him down today before he tries anything explosive._

Esca read the text, her eyes narrowed. But when she read the name, she gasped and lurched out of bed, promptly falling to the floor with a _THUMP!_

"Esca Rarity!" exclaimed Pietro, grabbing her hands and pulling her back onto the bed. He saw the frightening shade of white she had become and wrapped his arms around her. "What is it?"

"Th-th-that's the g-guy who experimented on me," she exhaled in horror, her blue eyes wide. "I thought I got rid of him forever." She buried her face in his shoulder, panicky thoughts of what would happen to her friends if they crossed him filling her mind.

"The ten of us will make sure he doesn't come anywhere near you. He cannot possibly be a match for all of us together."

"It's not you losing to him I'm worried about," murmured Esca softly. "Otho has a lot of tricks up his sleeve, Pietro. I want to go and protect you all."

"No. I will not let you do it. You've suffered enough."

"I would rather face him again and protect my friends than remain here to wait. Do not try to convince me to stay, Pietro Maximoff. I may not be an Avenger, but I can protect them."

Pietro, however, narrowed his eyes and sighed, "Esca Rarity, you have not had enough training to come with us. I would not be able to bear it if something happened to you. Please… stay here."

Hearing the pleading in his voice, Esca sighed and retorted, "Let's see what the others say about this."

Pietro thought that was fair, which explained why, an hour later, she and Pietro were explaining Esca's wish to Clint, Tony, and Steve about her going with them to intercept Otho.

"I know this man," insisted Esca. "I know what he's capable of. I know how to protect you from him."

Tony just chuckled. "We can take care of ourselves perfectly well, blondie."

"It might not be the best idea for you to come, Miss Esca," sighed Steve, running a hand through his hair. "I—we—don't want something happening to you."

Esca sighed through her nose. She loved the Avengers, but at times they made her feel like a child. "Steve, come on. I don't want to wait here without knowing what happens to you."

"And the truth emerges," chuckled Clint, shaking his head. "You don't have any real training. Stay here, Esca. It'll be better that way."  
She crossed her arms and glared at the ground. She had been certain that Tony and Clint would be gung-ho for her to go, as they were the ones persisting that she needed to learn how to fight.

Steve put a hand on her shoulder. "If we gave you a way to observe our progress, would that be all right?"

Again, Esca sighed. But knowing this was the best she was going to get, she nodded.

Steve smiled and said, "That's settled, then. Stark, you got something for Miss Esca?"

"You bet. Follow me, blondie!"

A few minutes later, she was led into a laboratory that was home to a dozen high-tech devices. There was nonstop beeping throughout the room. "Here we are, my fun lab," avowed Tony, waving his arms grandiosely. "Now to find… where the hell did I put it?"

He rummaged around for a moment; Esca peered at metal tubes attaching two spherical structures together. She had no idea what it was, but Tony, without even looking at her, pointed and said, "Don't touch that."

"I wasn't going to," she exclaimed defensively.

"Just checking. A-ha! Found the little bugger." With that, Tony moved toward Esca and, with a pair of headphones in his hand, continued, "This will allow you to keep in contact with us. It's two-way, so we can hear you as well. Hopefully it'll be satisfactory."

Gratefully, Esca grabbed the headphones and fitted them. Then Tony asked, "Can you hear me?"

His voice echoed both through the device and through the room. So she nodded and replied, "Yes, I can hear you. Thank you, Tony."

"No problem, blondie," he replied, but he noticed the look on Esca's face. His eyes narrowed, and he murmured, "What's up? Talk to Uncle Stark."

Esca just sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing."

"Uncle Stark wants to hear it," he simpered, whapping her lightly on the shoulder.

Esca chuckled, but finally conceded. "I wanted to go with you because I want to prove that I can be useful. After nine months of living in this Tower, I want to do something in return. I want to help the team."

Tony's face changed from confused to sympathetic. "Ah, blondie," he sighed, "you're already part of the team. You might be new, but you're still an invaluable part of us. Haven't you figured that out?"

"It's not about being **_considered_** as part of the team—it's about proving it," she insisted, trying not to sound exasperated. After all, he **_did_** just give her the headphones.

"You don't need to do that. You've already proven yourself a dozen times over." With that, Tony smiled—actually smiled—and declared, "Now let's go back to the others. We'll set off in a few minutes, and we'll be quick. Then we can take you to the pizza place for dinner."

Despite her dismal mood, Esca perked up a bit at the mention of the pizzeria.

Tony noticed and exclaimed, "There you go. Now come on. You've gotta come cheer us on if you want your ticket to pizza."

With a hopeless laugh, she followed Tony to the common area.

An hour later, Esca was drearily sitting in the common area, listening intently to the Avengers' progress.

"Find him, Cap?" asked Tony's voice.

"Not yet. I'm relatively certain he's in this building though. Maximoff, can you do a quick perimeter check?"

"Way ahead of you, Rogers. He's inside."

Esca sighed and mumbled into the headset, "Be careful, guys. You don't know what he's been experimenting with…"

Natasha's voice exclaimed, "What do you mean, Esca?"

"He's been advancing beyond the technology of regular explosives. He's been figuring out how to implant Strucker's artificial intelligence into these explosives to cause maximum damage."

"Mini-Ultrons. Great," muttered James.

"Why didn't you tell us this **_before,_** blondie?!" questioned Clint.

"This is why I wanted to go with you," she grumbled instead. But then, she answered, "I only remembered just now, Clint. I haven't thought about the man in seven years, much less recalled what he researched. At any rate, he was far off when I left. He might not even have succeeded—this might be a test run for him. But you should stop him all the same. Bruce, you're good at tracking gamma radiation, aren't you?"

"That's one of my specialties."

"This isn't that, but it's something of that caliber. If Otho has succeeded with artificial intelligence, there will be a telepathic connection within all the explosives he places. Wanda, you might be able to read the connection too. You two are going to have to locate all the explosives before they're in place, or a big mess is coming."

"On it. Thanks, Esca."

"Isn't it Rogers's job to be the leader?" teased Tony.

Esca just chuckled. "I'm doing what I can to help, Tony."

"The lady knows what she's talking about," replied Steve, a laugh in his voice. "Who am I to stand in the way of that? She obviously knows more about Otho than we do."

"Dear God, do I," she growled. Clenching her fists, she muttered, "Whoever shoots him for me gets a dozen chocolate chip cookies tomorrow morning."

"Oh, **_now_** it's a party!" exclaimed Clint. "I want those cookies!"

"In your mortal dreams, Barton!" retorted Thor. "Those treats of Esca's are one of my favorite things, and I will be the one to claim them."

"Legolas, Point Break, don't be upset when Uncle Stark gets—"

"SHIT!" shouted Pietro's voice. There was a loud **_BOOM_** from his end—Esca gasped at his exclamation and was about to ask if he was alright when Pietro's voice sounded again. "Well, I found him. And he's got a grenade launcher."

"Where are you, Maximoff?" asked Steve.

"What, no scolding on the language?" taunted James.

"Ah, shut up, Bucky. Who told him about that, anyway?"

"Are you okay, Pietro?!" asked Wanda's immensely worried voice.

"I'm fine, Wanda, don't worry. But he's on the third floor of the gray, deserted building."

"Coming now," declared Tony. "This'll take about five minutes."

Esca wasn't so sure about that, however. She frowned and bit her lip, trying to recollect all the different experiments that Otho had attempted while she had been at the HYDRA compound. His main focus had been her—human experimentation. Secondly, he worked on the explosives. Thirdly… what was thirdly?

This could be important; she had to figure it out fast if Tony and Pietro were ganging up to whale on Otho.

"Closing in," announced Tony's voice. "Anyone else close by, or are Maximoff and I the only ones getting cookies?"

"We'll see about that, Metal Head," muttered Natasha. "I'm getting close too."

Esca closed her eyes in concentration. Did he even **_have_** a third focus? Maybe he didn't; maybe she was going about this wrong. How did Otho react whenever he was attacked?

"Surrender, Alaric Otho," declared Tony's voice authoritatively. Esca could all but see his extended hands, the glowing light from his metal suit's palms.

Here it was. Otho was intercepted and trapped. What would he do? Esca suddenly remembered how he'd defended his fort; defenses were always placed around it. That had been one of many things that made Esca's escape difficult. And whenever he had discovered she was escaping, he launched those traps—

"Get back!" screeched Esca. "Get away from there, **_now!_** "

"Esca Rarity, what—"

A huge explosion sounded and two screams echoed in her ears.

" ** _NO!_** " she shrieked, unable to help it any longer. She couldn't just sit in that godforsaken Tower anymore. She had to find them. They were somewhere downtown, close to civilian life but not close enough that any of them were in the immediate impact range.

She sprinted out of the Tower, not grabbing a jacket, not telling Pepper or Zelda where she was going, and burst into a cab. "Downtown!" she practically screamed at the driver. "Extra if you get me there as soon as possible!"

"No, blondie, don't come!" shouted Clint's voice. "It's all right, we've got this! Otho escaped, and we don't want him hurting you!"

"Too late for that, Clint!" snapped Esca. "I'm coming whether you like it or not! Tony?! Pietro?! Say something!"

But there was nothing, and Esca pounded the seat next to her.

The driver—who was speeding a little—looked in the rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright, Miss?"

"No, no, I'm not, it's a long story, and **_please_** just get me downtown, please."

He nodded and replied, "Downtown is only eight minutes away," before focusing back on the road, figuring it would be better to not get involved.

Those eight minutes lasted an eternity. The Avengers' were frantically trying to locate Otho, as they knew he had more explosives and was probably off to spread his success with civilian life. Steve and Bruce were leading the expedition, although Wanda wanted to remain behind and look for her brother.

"Have you found them yet, Wanda?" queried Esca thickly. "Are they alive?"

"I don't know," sobbed Wanda. "I can't find them anywhere. I think the blast might have propelled them somewhere else. I can't read them. I can't—they can't be…"

"Wanda," said Natasha's voice calmly. "You might be too panicked to get a proper reading. Let's not jump to conclusions yet. And if they **_are_** hurt, Esca is on her way to heal them. It'll be okay."

Natasha's voice was immensely soothing, and Esca felt guilty that she hadn't used her power to calm Wanda. She had been much too worried herself to think… But maybe now she'd be able to do so. "Natasha's right, Wanda. I'm certain they'll be alright. They might just be unconscious."

There was a short silence, and then Wanda sighed, "Okay."

"There we go," murmured Steve's voice. "Now, on another matter, I still haven't located Otho. Where is everyone? We need to establish search perimeters."

At last, Esca was at the edge of downtown, close to where she figured the Avengers had been. She remembered that Pietro had said something about an old, gray building—her eyes landed on a building that had a couple windows blown out of it.

"There," she murmured to herself. She threw the cab driver a fifty-dollar bill and ran.

When she arrived, Esca ran straight for the third floor. When she got there, she saw Tony lying on the ground, immobile. She raced for him and quickly removed his helmet to see that his eyes were closed. He didn't look hurt—but the impact of the explosion might have overwhelmed him.

She carefully removed the headphones from her head… she didn't want to make any of the other Avengers sleepy with the song she had in mind for Tony. Knowing he wasn't grievously hurt comforted Esca, but she wanted him to rest all the same, and so she sang:

 _Falling snow and silver glass_

 _Set yourself free_

 _Quiet rain and soft sun-ray_

 _Let yourself dream_

Tony sighed contentedly; she smiled somewhat and repeated the short song to make sure his sleep would be a peaceful one. Small bursts of golden light sparked from her fingertips and settled upon Tony's face before disappearing.

Once she finished, a voice behind her said, "You really did have powers."

Esca closed her eyes in defeat. She knew that voice.

"Unbelievable, how you found yourself here," it continued. Footsteps echoed across the floor, and Esca carefully grabbed her headset. She couldn't directly tell the Avengers that Otho was here, or she and Tony were dead. She kept her gaze on Tony's face as she fastened the headphones back into place. "You've grown to embrace your powers, my little monster. Although you are not so little anymore, are you? You are, what? Twenty?"

"Twenty-one," she answered, taking great care to speak into the headset.

"Esca?" questioned Bruce's voice. "What are you talking about?"

"It's been many years, hasn't it," reminisced Otho, his green eyes somewhat bloodshot. "I am amazed that after all this time, our paths have crossed again. Now—come with me."

He grabbed her arm forcefully, but Esca dug her heels into the ground and exclaimed, "I will not go anywhere with you, Otho." She heard eight gasps across the line, but ignored them. "I have found my place. I will not be dragged back to the beginning."

"Esca?!" asked Steve's worried voice. "Esca, are you alright?"

She wished she could reply to Steve. But she couldn't.

"But it will be the ending," mused Otho, glaring at her. "Your powers must be placed in a more complacent vessel. If you do not come, I will kill Tony Stark once and for all. Now, little monster."

"Step away," said another voice that Esca hardly expected to hear. She looked back to see Vision, his eyes determined, as he floated just above the ground. "Leave Evanesca be."

Otho did not look impressed. "And who are you to keep me from my property?"

"She is not your property," replied the android calmly. "She is my friend. And I will not let you take her."

Esca smiled at Vision, as he'd never outright said that they were friends before. She was very glad to hear it now.

"You won't," mused Otho with a sneer. "Well, I—"

There was a sudden blast of yellow light, and then a ringing in Esca's ears. She blinked once or twice before being able to see again; when she could, she noticed Vision was standing in front of her, peering at her concernedly. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," she replied, grinning despite herself. She was very glad that Otho was gone, and that Vision had said they were friends. She very much liked having friends. "Thank you for helping me, Vision."

"Vision? Is she safe?" asked Steve.

"Quite," reassured the android. "She is here with me and Stark. He will be alright too."

Esca looked around—seeing it was indeed only them, her shoulders drooped in defeat. "Where is Pietro?" she squeaked, darting for the window and gazing out of it despondently.

"Down here," grumbled Pietro's voice. Esca, hardly daring to believe it, looked down. And there, in a large pile of bushes, lay Pietro. She gasped, seeing that his leg was bent at a bad angle, but when he saw her, he smiled. "Hello there," he called up to her. "I don't suppose you could lend a leg? I would've kicked Otho's ass myself, but…"

"Language," teased Esca. "Or has Steve not taught you proper etiquette yet?"

" ** _You know what, Rarity—_** "

Esca burst into laughter at Steve's indignation—just then, she felt herself being lifted down the three flights. She turned and saw Vision, smiling somewhat, as he helped her down.

Once she was on the ground, Esca smiled at him and murmured, "Thank you." Then she turned to Pietro, who was looking at the android strangely, as if assessing him.

Apparently, he was, because after a moment, he sighed and grumbled, "All right… you saved my girlfriend… so I guess I give you permission to date my sister…"

Esca couldn't help but laugh at both Pietro's reluctant remark and at the pleasant surprise on Vision's face. But she knelt down and began to sing the very song she sang when she'd healed Pietro those nine months ago—once she was done, Pietro shakily stood up and murmured, "See, Esca Rarity? Look at you. You're part of the team."

The others seemed to hear his comment over the headphones, and they all started agreeing. Esca was happier than ever—her relief became greater when she heard Tony's very conscious voice declare, "Okay, good game everyone. I guess Vision wins the cookies."

"DARN IT!"

"I wanted cookies!"

Esca laughed. "I'll make everyone cookies, all right? I'll just make Vision a couple extra."

That earned a resounding cheer; Tony, still in his suit, leapt down next to Esca, Vision, and Pietro and exclaimed, "And I think **_you,_** blondie, have earned yourself a trip to a pizzeria."

She beamed at that; then the four walked back to where the other Avengers were waiting.


	22. Vacations and Phobias

Wow. 150 favorites! That's amazing! Thank you so much for making that happen guys. You're all the greatest! A giant shout-out to all of you!

Of course, just as wonderful as my favorites are my followers and my reviewers! Thanks to **Saint of the Sinners** and my **Guest** for their reviews last chapter! Keep them coming, y'all, you know I love hearing from ya. :)

Since I bored you all to death with my last author's note (sorry about that again), this is all for now! Have a MARVELous day, everyone!

* * *

A few days after the Otho incident, Pietro was out of his temporary cast, and he and Tony were completely back to normal. Esca's healing had helped a lot, according to them, although she suspected they were exaggerating how amazing they felt to make her feel good.

It was one week later that Tony burst into the common area and announced, "We should take a vacation."

Everyone had been chatting amiably, but when this exclamation was made, everyone stopped and stared at him. It was Steve who spoke up first. "What do you mean, a vacation?"

"I mean, get away from New York, from Stark Tower," he announced, shrugging and heading to the fridge for a drink. He poured a glass of orange juice and offered some to Wanda before continuing. "Don't you ever get that feeling where you just need to relax for a while? Because I do."

"What if we're needed?" replied Natasha.

"We won't be," retorted Tony, raising an eyebrow. "Nine months after Ultron happens, we've only had one mission. And that was a week ago. I don't think anyone will try anything funny within the next few days."

James pointed at Tony and admitted, "He's got a point."

Steve smiled and threw an arm around James's shoulder. "He does, Buck, you're right. But maybe one or two of us should remain here, just in case…"

"Come on, Capsicle!" exclaimed Tony. "We **_all_** need a vacation."

"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt, Steve," said Esca, deciding that she liked the sound of this idea.

Steve, who noted the hopeful tone in Esca's voice, smiled and gazed at her for a moment. Seeing that James and the others also agreed with Tony, he held his hands up in surrender. "All right, Stark. I guess you win. So where are we going? When?"

Tony smirked and declared, "You've all got fifteen minutes to pack. Then I want you back here. We're leaving now."

And he skipped out of the room, announcing, "Pack for warm weather!" as he went.

The Avengers glanced at each other before hustling up the stairs or cramming the elevator to get to their rooms.

Esca wasted no time, swiftly donned a red sundress and matching sunhat before packing two more pairs of clothes and other necessities. Then she ran back to the common area.

Zelda and James followed her, and then they were ready to go. Tony gestured them to the parking garage of a flying vehicle he called the Quinjet and declared, "Pile in."

The Avengers did so obediently, and then they were off.

"Where are we going, Tony?" questioned Esca excitedly.

He grinned. "Somewhere fun."

"Any specifics?" prompted Wanda, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. It'll be a surprise."

Most of the Avengers were exasperated with this, but not Esca. If anything, she was even more excited. She **_did_** like surprises…

It was only a three hour ride to wherever it was they were going. Tony insisted on driving the entire time, and he bellowed cheerily, "We're here!" as he landed the jet.

Esca and the others practically squashed against each other to look at where they were. She noticed there was a lot of grass and a few trees around.

"This nature is quite lovely," declared Thor, nodding approvingly. "It is nice to see it after spending so long in the place you call a city."

"Glad you like it, Point Break. We're going to be camping out here."

"Camping? **_Really?_** " asked Natasha, rolling her eyes. "How stereotypical."

Tony, however, shushed her with, "We'll only be here at night. Today, we're doing something a little more exciting… And by that, I mean there's an amusement park just a mile out. I can't park any closer or people will freak out like they do. Hopefully it's okay if we walk."

The others decided this was fair, and everyone left their belongings on the Quinjet as they walked to the amusement park.

Pietro and Wanda were walking together, discussing something lowly, so Esca decided to walk with Bruce, who looked excited. "Have you ever been to an amusement park, Esca?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Never, but I've been dying to go."

"You'll like it," promised Bruce, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her close like a father might have.

"I bet I will!" exclaimed Esca with another grin.

Bruce spent the walk explaining what kind of things she'd find in the park, and Esca listened with rapt attention. She was very excited to try what he called a rollercoaster and could hardly stand the wait.

It only took fifteen minutes for them to arrive; when they did, James read the sign. "Universal Studios?"

"Give you any hint about where we are?" quipped Tony.

"Florida," answered Zelda, raising her eyebrows. "Haven't been here in years! Last time I went I was with my cousin Ellis, and we hit the Harry Potter section three days in a row."

"Yep," answered Tony, clapping his hands together. "There's also a section in here dedicated just for us. I figured that would be pretty cool."

Esca couldn't help but laugh at that. "That's amazing, Tony! Can we go try a rollercoaster? Bruce wants to show me what they are."

Tony's eyes bugged at that. "You've never been on a rollercoaster?"

She shook her head.

"Who else has never been on a rollercoaster?"

Steve, James, Vision, Thor, and Wanda all raised their hands. Esca thought it strange that Pietro didn't raise his hand too—maybe he'd taken a father/son trip sometime?

Zelda, recalling that James had never been presented the opportunity to ride a rollercoaster, gasped audibly and seized his arm before dragging him into the park. Esca heard her declare, "You gonna learn today!" as she marched off, James obediently following, though he did comment, "Your wish is my command! Apparently."

Steve moved to Tony and muttered, "People will recognize us."

"I've taken care of it. I called ahead. Well, actually, Pepper called ahead."

"What do you mean, called ahead?"

"I mean it won't be crowded today. We rented out the place. Only three-thousand people are allowed in today. This way we might avoid some press or crazy fans."

Steve sighed, but relented as Esca squealed and pointed to a large metal structure. "Is that a rollercoaster?!"

"It is indeed, blondie!" exclaimed Tony, a wide grin on his face. He slung an arm around Esca's shoulder before announcing, "Who wants to come with me to give blondie her first rollercoaster experience!"

Almost everyone decided they would come—only Steve, Natasha, Vision, and Pietro abstained, preferring instead to watch and laugh from below. The others, however, were thrilled, as this was also Wanda's, Thor's, and James's first rollercoaster as well.

"Make sure you get the pictures of this, Nat," grinned Clint to Natasha. "I really want to see the looks on their faces when we get off this thing."

And so, the majority of the group got in line for the rollercoaster. Once they were on, Esca, who was sitting next to Tony, couldn't help bouncing a little. "This is really exciting," she exclaimed, a manic grin on her face. "These things have always seemed so fun!"

"You'll love it, trust me," laughed Tony.

The ride began—they ascended the giant mechanical hill. Esca took the opportunity to look at the scene below, and she almost gasped aloud. It was amazing, how everything seemed to shrink, how far she could see out. She turned around to see Wanda was smiling a little.

Wanda noticed Esca was looking at her. "You ready?" she asked.

"More than ever!"

"Turn around, blondie! You don't want to miss this!" exclaimed Tony, and Esca obeyed just in time. As she and Tony were in the front row, she got a glimpse of the drop—and then they were falling, and she was screaming, but it was an exhilarated scream as they fell and she slightly lifted off the seat. And then they were roaring across the tracks, Tony laughing like a madman, Wanda exclaiming in shock, and Bruce making a mock Hulking-out face.

Esca loved rollercoasters. They were her new favorite thing—she loved the wind in her face, the adrenaline as they plunged toward the ground, the speed the ride picked up on its descent. Her only complaint was that it was over much too quickly.

When she got off the ride, she and Tony were giggling like schoolchildren. Bruce and Thor were laughing as well; Wanda threw her hands to her face and struggled to figure out what she thought about the ride. The others were grinning—James asked, "Can we do that again?"

Zelda grinned and kissed his cheek. "Yes. Let's do that again. I'm proud of you for liking rollercoasters."

Once they were in line again, Tony turned back to Esca. Steve, Vision, and Pietro walked up to her as well. "So, blondie? What'd you think?"

"I love it!" she gasped without wasting any more time. "We should try another one!"

Tony grinned. "Your wish is my command!" he exclaimed, taking a leaf out of James's book. "Cap, you want to try?"

Steve looked over and noticed that James seemed to be having a lot of fun. "Sure, why not? Vision, Maximoff, you want to come, too?"

The android glanced at the rollercoaster and shrugged. "I might as well."

Pietro smiled too, though there was something odd about it. Esca glanced at him and noticed that he was slightly pale. Was he feeling well? "No thanks, Rogers. I think Wanda might need some company." This last was said as a chuckle, as Wanda was breathing heavily.

"Alright then," said Steve. "Let's go on a rollercoaster."

Steve ended up being satisfied with the one rollercoaster ride, and was thus designated with collecting the numerous pictures taken of his friends while on the rides. Vision seemed to like them, though he only went when Wanda did. Tony, Esca, Clint, Thor, and Bruce were always in the front, screaming like crazy people and throwing their hands in the air. James and Zelda were closer to the back—they seemed to like it better there—but they too really enjoyed the rides. Natasha and Pepper only went on a couple, although they liked them too.

By the evening, only Pietro hadn't ridden at least one rollercoaster.

The others didn't seem to notice, but Esca had. Throughout the day, she'd wondered if he had been ill—he'd been pale whenever she asked if he wanted to ride a rollercoaster with her. But by dinnertime, while the others were eating dinner and laughing at all the pictures, as Wanda was murmuring lowly to him, she figured it out.

Esca moved toward Pietro and gently took his hand. "Hey there. You want to take a walk?"

He smiled and said, "Sure." Then they left, leaving the others roaring with laughter over the picture of Tony's crossed eyes as he screamed in utter exhilaration.

Once they were out of earshot, Esca murmured, "You've been distant today… Are you alright?"

He nodded quickly. "Quite," he answered, trying vainly for a smirk. "I'm just tired."

She gave him a look. "Pietro."

"What?"

"You're scared of heights."

He blinked once and gazed at her before sighing. "They… aren't… my favorite thing in the world. Ever since I… looked down into the hole that swallowed our parents, when we were ten… I've never liked heights. Every time I look down, all I can see is our destroyed house, and our parents underneath the wreckage."

Esca watched as he spoke and saw that his eyes were darting warily. She clutched his arm and murmured, "You could've said something. I would've stayed with you."

"I didn't… want to bother you."

She recoiled sharply and all but glared at him. "Pietro Maximoff, if you think that would've **_bothered_** me, you must be out of your mind. If I had known, I would've spent the day with you."

"That's actually what I wanted to avoid," chuckled Pietro, still looking at the ground. "You were having fun, and I was very glad to see you happy."

Esca's anger melted until she became very sad. "But I want you to be happy too."

"It's just one day," he laughed, glancing at her with the familiar careless gleam in his eye. "You deserved the family bonding. These rollercoasters are really bringing everyone together," he added thoughtfully. "Besides, there's plenty of time of vacation left. I'm sure there are other things to do, and plenty more opportunities to have fun."

Hearing this, Esca sighed. She felt very bad for not realizing Pietro's fear of heights, but at the same time, she wanted to free him from the fear, just as he had freed her from her fear of being unlovable. She didn't know what to do or say except, "I'm sure there will be. Maybe we should go get something to eat."

"I agree, I'm starving."

"What else is new?" giggled Esca, and they returned to the table to see that the others were almost done eating.

"Hey guys," waved Bruce amicably. "We were talking about grabbing some ice cream, then riding the Ferris Wheel before heading back to the Quinjet. Does that sound like a good idea?"

Esca glanced at Pietro to see how he would take the news; she was surprised to see he was looking at **_her._** And then he said, "Sure thing, Banner. That sounds like a plan."

"Are you okay with riding the Ferris Wheel?" she questioned.

Pietro nodded resolutely. "I can do that."

"Okay."

And that was all she said on the matter until they were in line for said Ferris Wheel. By the time they were in the line, however, Pietro was looking rather pale again. Esca was dying to figure out how to reassure him that everything would be fine, but she could think of nothing. Still, she had to say **_something_** —

"I am absolutely terrified of puppets."

Pietro looked at Esca. "Of… puppets?"

Esca blinked. Everyone was looking at her. "Yes. They're creepy and unnatural and voices should just stay with the people they belong to. I seriously hate puppets. It's called automatonophobia."

The others simply stared at her, as if wondering if she were insane. Pietro, however, seemed to know exactly why she had said this, and he smiled at her.

Wanda noticed too, as of course, she was Pietro's sister and knew everything about him. And so she said, "That's interesting… I really hate toads and frogs. They're slimy and disgusting."

"Spiders," spoke up Pepper with a shudder. "I hate those. They're so gross. They shouldn't have that many legs."

"Anyone else afraid of being isolated?" murmured Natasha, glancing around. "My little imprisonment with Ultron left little to be desired about being imprisoned. It's weird, I know."

James just chuckled. "You think a fear of being isolated is weird? Talk about a fear of ice. **_That's_** weird. Not water, not steam—just ice."

"No, you know what's bad?" asked Tony through a mouthful of ice cream. He'd gotten an extra-large scoop because he was Tony Stark and he did what he wanted. "Dolls. Those things are the creepiest little demons throughout the planet. Ugh."

And with that, everyone spoke up about what they were most afraid of. Steve hated snakes, Thor disdained tight spaces, Clint hated clowns, Bruce had angrophobia, Zelda detested failing at things. Only Vision didn't have an abnormally potent fear of anything, seeing as he was an android and did not feel fear the same as everyone else.

Pietro smiled at Esca, as he knew she had started this phobia-fest to make him feel better. And so, he finally admitted, "I'm afraid of heights."

"You are?" asked Tony incredulously. "I… didn't know. Sorry, man."

"No big deal," he replied with a sideways grin. "I still had fun."

With that, everyone was moved onto the Ferris Wheel. As they sat down, Pietro locked his and Esca's pinkie fingers, though the gesture was a little tighter than usual. "Sorry," he murmured. "I just… heights."

"I understand," she murmured, moving to grasp his hand.

The wheel started moving—they started out from the bottom and slowly got to the top. Esca glanced at Pietro to see how he was holding up… he was not looking down, but at her as he tightened his grip on her hand.

"Sorry," he sighed. "I needed something to distract me."

She smiled and replied, "It's fine, Pietro. But it isn't so bad, is it? After all, where else are you going to get a view like this?"

Pietro glanced out for a while and shrugged. "I guess I wouldn't. Except maybe Sokovia."

"How did you hold up on Sokovia, by the way? When it was flying?"

"It wasn't so bad then. I was very distracted, what with those homicidal robots. Plus, there was ground underneath my feet. It's not so much the height that unsettles me… it's looking down and knowing I can fall."

Esca nodded. "I understand. But how are you feeling?"

She heard him inhale slowly before replying, "Good, so far. It's not so bad. Of course, I also have a lovely woman to distract me, so…"

Esca rolled her eyes playfully, but rested her head on his shoulder. "Glad I could help."

"You always help."

She smiled at that; when the ride was over, they got off the Ferris Wheel, and Tony declared that it was time to return to the Quinjet after a long day of amusement park. Hearing this, Pietro grinned evilly and promptly picked Esca up in his arms before shouting back to the others, "Better keep up!"

And he zoomed off, Esca screaming in shock and glee, the others laughing as they watched them go.


	23. In Sickness and In Health

Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long; the writer's block on this project is hitting me hard. :/ It's kinda sad, but I'm hoping I'll get past it soon!

I'd like to thank **MissMarvelousFanfic** for the prompt for this chapter! Also, a shout-out to **CrazyCountryGirl12, Angelbaby1231,** and **WriterandDaydreamer4218** for reviewing! And of course, THANK YOU AGAIN to all my readers, followers, and favoriters! You guys are great. Thanks so much. :)

That's all I've got for you, folks, other than I'm planning on re-posting my EDITED (thank gosh) Lord of the Rings 10th walker and my Harry Potter fics soon. Thanks everyone, and have a MARVELous day!

* * *

The little vacation proved to be a great bonding experience for the Avengers. It lasted four days and three nights; on the second day, they returned to Universal Studios. Somehow, Esca had managed to convince Pietro to ride a real rollercoaster, if only one time in his life.

Pietro had said he liked the experience… but never wanted to do it again.

Afterward, they had gone to the beach, where everyone had lots of fun. Luckily, everyone had brought a swimsuit—at Tony's disclosure—so everyone was able to wade into the ocean. Esca had had a lot of fun building a huge sandcastle with Tony and Bruce, as those two knew exactly how to make it tall and structurally sound. Thor assisted whenever the castle became too high for any of the three architects to continue building it. Later, Clint, Steve, and Pietro accompanied Esca into the ocean, as she'd never been to a beach before and really enjoyed the experience.

Meanwhile, Wanda, Vision, Pepper, and Zelda preferred to remain in the shade and read or watch their friends fool around. Natasha had grumbled to James about a bullet-sized scar on her side—he apologized three times before she laughed and let him off the hook.

During their time at the beach, Esca and Natasha had both tanned nicely, although poor Wanda had gotten sunburned. To help Wanda's burns heal faster, Esca gave her a big bottle of aloe vera.

Before long, everyone was back at Stark Tower. Unfortunately, the morning after they returned, Clint had to return to the farm. He gave Esca a long good-bye, as he didn't know when he'd be back, although he promised it wouldn't be terribly long.

"Say hi to Nathaniel for me," she said with a smile. And then he was off.

It was that afternoon that Esca began to feel under the weather. The next morning, she threw up. Luckily, she'd made it to the bathroom on time, but she wasn't able to leave it for a half-hour.

Pietro brought her a glass of ginger ale afterward and helped her into bed for a nap.

Throughout the next day, Esca had a couple visitors. Bruce first came by and did a quick evaluation on what she might've contracted. He declared it was a stomach bug, and Esca figured he was right. All the same, it was one of the worst bugs she'd gotten in a while.

Next, Steve came by with a bouquet of lovely white gardenias. He had a kind "Get Well" card, and he had gotten everyone to sign it. Esca couldn't help but grin at the gesture despite her pain and nausea.

"Take care of her, Maximoff," chuckled Steve, kissing Esca's forehead before leaving her to take another much needed nap.

"Don't worry, Rogers. I will."

While Esca was asleep was apparently when she had received the bulk of her visitors, because when she woke up, there was chicken noodle soup, a large bottle of water, and an electric blanket waiting for her. When she registered what they were for, she giggled slightly and muttered, "You'd think I was dying or something."

Pietro heard this comment and chuckled. "We worry about you."

"So I see," she replied, grabbing the water bottle swiftly. She was uncomfortably hot, but she knew she needed to sweat the fever out, so she just buried herself deeper underneath the blankets.

"Should I turn the air conditioning up?" asked Pietro.

She smiled but shook her head. "No, but thank you. I need to sweat the fever out." With a sigh, she then added, "Joy, joy…"

Pietro chuckled and sat on the edge of her bed carefully. "You become sarcastic when you're sick, apparently."

Esca grinned from underneath her blankets. "When I'm sick or when I'm sleep-deprived. Speaking of sleep-deprived… you should take a nap yourself, Pietro. I have no idea how long you've been here, but you don't need to worry. I'll be alright."

He smirked sideways and declared, "I'm not going anywhere. You were awake, watching over me nonstop the first day that we met. I've finally been given an opportunity to repay that."

"Pietro—"

"Nothing the sickie says is going to change my mind."

"I'm just the sickie now, am I? Great."

"If the sickie keeps sassing me, I won't tell her a story," laughed Pietro, seeing the expression on Esca's face. He smirked again seeing the exasperated yet defeated look that followed.

"What kind of story?" she questioned, glancing up at him suspiciously.

Pietro grinned carelessly and shrugged. "Any story you'd like to hear."

"It doesn't matter to me. I like stories."

"All right then. Once upon a time, a brother and a sister went to the lake close to their house. They had somehow managed to escape the ever watchful eyes of their supervisors and went to spend time by themselves. The sister looked into the reflection of the water of that lake and mused, ' _I wonder if there is a God out there._ '

"Naturally, the brother was confused by this, and so he asked, ' _What do you mean, a God? Do you mean an actual deity, or something else that we cannot comprehend?_ '

"' _Call it what you will,_ ' the sister said. ' _If you want to call it God or fate or anything else. Is there something greater out there? Is it good? Does it have our parents?_ '

"' _I think there has to be something, although I'm not sure what,_ ' said the brother. He could tell his sister was troubled; he wanted to say something that would comfort her. He knew she was thinking about their parents and wanted to reassure her that they were alright. So he added, ' _I think it is a power that oversees that everything happens for a reason. We are here for a reason. Our parents are with this power for a reason. Whatever we do today, tomorrow, or next year will have been for a reason. The people we meet will have met us for a reason. Maybe it's destiny. Maybe it's fate. Maybe it really is a God. I don't know, and I don't think anyone ever will. But whatever it is… I think it's good._ '

"The sister watched him for a moment and asked, as if she were afraid to hear the answer, ' _Do you think it will eventually bring us to happiness?_ '

"And the brother replied, ' _Yeah. I think it will._ ' That was all he could say before their supervisors found them and requested that they return to their fortress.

"That conversation occurred two years ago today. Neither the brother nor sister forgot it. They held out hope that whatever-it-is out there would bring them something to live for. They wanted to believe there would be a happily ever after. They believed it would happen so much that eventually it came to be.

"Half of me now thinks it is a God. After all, He sent an angel to save me. And since that day, we've had our happy ending, Wanda and I. Somehow, we've been given more than we ever hoped for. I don't know exactly what we did to deserve it, but we must have done something right. I hope to keep doing it. The end."

Esca blinked and smiled, gazing at Pietro. He had been looking out the window as he spoke, his gaze far away in a million-mile stare. She noted the rare, raw emotion in his tone and couldn't help but murmur, "You said it yourself; everything happens for a reason. I think… you are here because you and Wanda helped save the people of Sokovia. If there is a God, He rewarded you for doing what is right on Sokovia. I think… your path has been decided for a while. It just took a while to reach your happy ending."

Pietro finally looked back at her, surprise written across his face. But then he sighed and replied, "Perhaps. Who am I to argue with the one who has become my happy ending?"

"I was merely at the right place at the right time," mused Esca. "One way or another, you would've found your peace. But… am I… really your happy ending?"

He heard the doubt in her voice and chuckled. "You are certainly a big part of it. Wanda is another—she's all I had for the majority of my life, and seeing her happy certainly means a lot to me. You are another big part of that, of course… but what truly makes it special is having all that Wanda and I ever wished for beforehand. Friends—family—freedom. We have that now, and after so much time wishing and desiring, we know how precious it really is, and how lucky we are to have found it."

Esca sighed, knowing what he was talking about. She knew how precious it was, too. Now that she had everything she'd ever wished for, she'd treasure it deeply, perhaps more than anything else she'd ever treasured.

After a moment of silence, she murmured, "I know what you mean. But now, Pietro, you should get some sleep. You're probably very tired."

She tried to use her power to get him to rest, but he just shook his head obstinately. "That won't work on me this time, Esca Rarity. I'm staying up to make sure you feel well."

"I'm fine," she tried to say, but then she broke into a coughing fit.

"No you're not," he retorted, rolling his eyes.

Esca sighed again. "You're insanely overprotective, did you know that?"

"Wanda's motherliness must've rubbed off on me. Guess I should've seen that coming. Anyway, I'm still not leaving you. I'm going to make sure you get through this all right."

"In sickness and in health, huh?" joked Esca, a small smirk at her lips.

But that smirk faded entirely when he nodded and replied, as serious as he had ever been in the past, "That's exactly right."

At the sudden burst of sincerity, she blinked and stared at him. He didn't say anything, but everything he wanted to convey seemed to be in the look in his eyes. After a moment of Esca reading it, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Now… **_you_** are the one who needs to sleep. It will help you heal faster."

"But I just woke up," she declared plaintively, her blue eyes blinking.

Pietro sighed and gently caressed her face. "I know. But the more time you spend sleeping, the closer you will be to getting better. Don't you want to get better?"

"Yes, but… I like your stories."

"I'll tell you another one tonight," he laughed, a hint of a smile remaining on his face as he said this. "But only if you get your rest. You need it, Esca Rarity…"

"Only if you sleep too," she pronounced resolutely, crossing her arms for extra emphasis. "I won't sleep unless you do, too."

Pietro's eyes found the ceiling, but he laughed and held his hands up in surrender. "All **_right…_** I guess I have no choice." And with that, he lay down beside her, making sure she had enough room to be comfortable.

Esca glanced at him and thought for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but then swiftly closed it, realizing it probably wouldn't be a good idea to say what she was thinking.

"What?" asked Pietro—he had seen it anyway.

She shook her head against speaking, but at his insistence, she finally sighed and squeaked, "I just wanted to hug you, but since I'm contagious it probably isn't a good idea. I don't want **_you_** getting sick…"

He smiled again. "Screw that." And he wrapped Esca in his arms, which made her sigh contentedly and close her eyes. "If you had mono, I'd probably still hug you."

"Well, you'd be the one who **_gave_** me mono, because I do not have it, and I do not intend on kissing anyone other than you, so… But you don't have mono, either, so that example was a little redundant—"

"Damn, you **_are_** sassy when you're sick," he chuckled into her hair. "Get better soon! Jeez."

Esca giggled at his tomfoolery, but buried her face in his shirt and closed her eyes. Within a few minutes, with Pietro holding her and the warmth of the blankets, she was asleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** I sort of wanted a real life theme/moral with this chapter. I hope I portrayed it accurately.

Please review, guys! I want to know if I did this chapter right. :)


	24. Girls Night Out

New chapter! Yay! I'd like to thank **MarvelousMissFanfic** for the prompt for this chapter as well! Speaking of chapters, thanks to **Saint of the Sinners,** **Savarra,** and **emilyamazing** for their reviews! It's nice to hear from you guys! :)

On that note, I've got the last few chapters all panned out (finally! Now I have my life together)! I'm going to try and get this done by mid-August, if not earlier. I hope you'll stick around until the end! It means a lot to me to know you keep up with the story.

If anyone's interested, I'd like feedback on my story _As You Wish, Your Majesty._ I'd just like to hear some thoughts about what I've got so far.

That's all for today, folks! Have a MARVELous evening!

* * *

It took another two days for Esca to get better. The others were all relieved when she could finally stomach solid foods again, and they positively smothered her with grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was only thanks to Steve that they stopped shoving it towards her—he declared that she probably shouldn't eat too much just in case she had a relapse.

Luckily, there was no relapse, and three days after she recuperated, Wanda, Zelda, Pepper, and Natasha all decided they wanted a girls' night out, because the guys were driving them **_insane._** Normally, they could put up with their male counterparts, but only for so long.

And so it was that the five females left to go eat dinner and go shop or something. They didn't have a specific plan; just getting out of the Tower seemed like a good one.

First up, they went to Macy's—always a favorite—and pored over dresses and make-up. Everyone ended up getting something. In Esca's case, it was a pair of summer shorts and a few t-shirts that had been on sale, although Natasha tried to get her to buy a short red dress that could be used for clubbing.

Afterward, they stopped at a smoothie shop to grab something to drink. Wanda got a vanilla/chocolate swirl, Pepper bought a banana/orange mix, Natasha ordered a blackberry shake, Zelda got a hibiscus/mango smoothie, and Esca got a plain raspberry smoothie. And of course, everyone tried a sip or two of everyone's, even though Esca warned them that she might not have completely gotten rid of her bug.

Needless to say, they didn't care.

For the next two hours, the women tromped around the city, stopping at whatever looked interesting. Hot Topic, JC Penny, and a tea shop were three of their stops—but after their wallets were lighter and their arms starting hurting from carrying bags around, they decided it was time to grab some dinner.

"Where should we go?" questioned Wanda, glancing around.

Natasha smirked. "Is there any real question? We go to Schwarma."

"Yeesss," exclaimed Zelda—Schwarma was her favorite restaurant, and with good reason. Not only was the food absolutely delicious, but Robbie was often there.

It took only a few minutes for them to reach the restaurant, as it was only a couple blocks away. As soon as they entered the store, they heard a gasp and, "Oh, my favorite girls! Here's a large booth for you. Come sit and tell me what you want—except you, Zelda, I know already."

Their food was out in ten minutes. As the restaurant was not very busy, Robbie grabbed a burger and plopped down next to them. "So how's life?" he prompted.

"Splendid, as always," replied Esca with a smile. "Although—this might sound strange—I'm looking for something to happen! Another mission, maybe?"

"Oh no," teased Pepper. "She's been exposed to the mission adrenaline."

Esca made a face, which set the others to laughing.

"I heard you were sick, dear," exclaimed Robbie, patting Esca's hand sympathetically. "I trust you're feeling fantabulous again?"

She grinned. "I couldn't have put it better myself! These people tried to smother me with blankets and food when I started feeling better… they treat me like a five-year old," she smirked at the others as they attempted to deny her accusations.

"We do not!" protested Pepper.

Natasha laughed. "Yes we do. At least, I know **_I_** treat her like my little sister. Most of us do—you're family."

Esca smiled sincerely at that. "For all my complaining, I'm very glad to be considered family by you guys. You all are legitimately the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Aww," crooned Pepper, Wanda, and Robbie simultaneously.

"Well it's true," she confirmed, shrugging. "Everyone in that Tower is my friend, and the greatest friends I've ever had."

Robbie grinned and opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Zelda, who pointed to the door and exclaimed, "Hey, Robbie. Boyfriend alert."

Robbie glanced over his shoulder to see his boyfriend, Nathaniel, standing in the doorway. With a happy grin, he declared, "Well, ladies, I must farewell you for the evening. We're going to see _The Lion King_ on Broadway!"

And with that, he waved and sauntered out of the building, the women's well wishes and requests to hear how the musical went following him out.

Once he was gone, Esca giggled. "I really like him. But hey, speaking of boyfriends… Nat, are you and Bruce **_official_** yet?"

Natasha's eyebrows rose. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Zelda coughed something into her burger that sounded like, " _BULLSHIT._ "

Wanda smirked as she put in, "You know exactly what we're talking about, Natasha. I know you do."

Nat blinked for a moment, as if confused, before realizing that Wanda was probably reading her mind. "Oh, hell," grumbled Nat—but, at the other's invested expressions, she huffed and muttered, "Alright, so we'll probably be official soon. Relax."

" ** _Soon?_** " demanded Esca. She had been waiting for her friend, practically her sister, to get in that committed relationship with Bruce Banner for the past three stinking months! " ** _Soon?!_** No! It should be official the minute we step back into that Tower, Natasha Romanoff!"

The redhead just curled her lip into a grin. "Sorry, Rarity. You'll have to wait."

Esca pouted. "I've waited three months already."

The others were all but grasping the table to keep upright, they were so amused. As it was, Zelda managed to gasp through her tears, "Come on, Nat, Esca's right. We've all been waiting, you know."

"Oh, really? How long did it take you and James to become official?"

"Three weeks. It may or may not have been a bit of a rushed relationship."

"Well, it seems to have worked out well," noted Wanda softly, a smile on her face. "After all, you've been together what, two years?"

Zelda nodded. "Something like that. A little longer, I think."

Nat whistled. "That's a while."

"Yes—but for real, let's look at **_Pepper,_** if we want to analyze long-lasting relationships. How long have you put up with that maniac, Pep?"

Pepper thought for a moment before replying, "Oh, it's been years. I've lost count."

"How has he not proposed yet?" exclaimed Esca, her eyes narrowing.

Pepper snorted. "Tony? Think of proposing? Tony Stark? That's very funny, Esca." She giggled a little more. "If we're ever going to be engaged, it'll be because **_I_** proposed to **_him._** "

Wanda blinked and smirked, something that was quite uncharacteristic of her. "We'll see about that," she muttered, but Pepper didn't hear her. As a matter of fact, the only one who noticed was Esca—she almost bounced in her seat, relatively certain there might be some exciting news around the Tower soon.

As it was, Pepper noticed Wanda's smirk, although she hadn't heard her words, and exclaimed, "And I suppose we're just going to ignore Wanda and Vision?"

At this, Wanda promptly turned a shade of red and looked around, as if searching for something. Esca figured it was probably Pietro—she smiled a little. Their bond, as twins, was incredibly tight. She believed that somewhere in Stark Tower, Pietro was fidgeting, knowing that Wanda was looking for him as backup.

"What about us?" asked Wanda, finally realizing that Pietro would not come zooming in. Perhaps she had actually been expecting him to.

"Is that official or not?"

Wanda looked pleased, yet scandalized. "Are you insane? If I publically announced that Vision and I were official, Pietro would never give us a moment's peace!"

"But are you?" questioned Nat, trying to refrain from smirking.

"I… don't know," she answered softly, looking down at her hands.

The others burst into exclamations, but Esca simply looked at Wanda curiously. She saw the other woman flush and twitch uncomfortably—deciding to help her out, Esca declared, "I think it's under the radar. You know, to prevent too many people finding out about it. Besides, not only would Pietro give her a hard time—so would Clint. He practically sees you two as his own kids at this point, you know."  
Wanda looked relieved for the backup; she shot Esca a gratified smile.

After a moment of silence, Zelda nodded. "I suppose that would make sense. So it's official, but not Facebook official."

"Facebook official?" repeated Wanda, a confused look on her face.

Pepper laughed. "We'll show you what that is sometime."

Wanda nodded and smiled a little again. There was another silence until Natasha jolted and exclaimed, "Wait a minute. We haven't pestered Esca about Pietro yet."

Esca blinked. "What else is there to say about my relationship that you don't already know? You guys know practically **_everything_** about it… believe me, that wasn't my choice," she grumbled. Remembering the day after her birthday party, she flushed in embarrassment and threw her hands to her face. "I cannot believe that Steven thought I was sick… **_ugh._** "

She slumped down into her chair as the others snorted and burst into laughter—except Wanda, who merely rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of Steven, he needs a girlfriend," burst out Esca, shooting bolt upright. "I mean, we've all got guys. And Thor is dating Jane, and Clint is at home with Laura… Nat, didn't you tell me you were trying to set him up some time ago?"

Natasha nodded. "I had been, but then I stopped."

"Why?"

"I just did. I figured it would be better for him to find his own girlfriend."

Esca narrowed her eyes. "Please. You're not going to trick me with that. Natasha Romanoff does not give up. She does everything she can until she gets what she wants. There's another reason you stopped woman-hunting for Steve. What was it? I want to help!"

Natasha just exchanged exasperated looks with Zelda. "It's nothing, Esca. We'll tell you when you're older."

"You **_are_** the youngest one in the Tower," laughed Zelda.

Esca huffed and tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "I'm twenty-one, ladies, not five."

"You're still the baby," mocked Natasha, her usual smirk on her face.

Esca groaned, knowing that she would never get anything out of Natasha no matter what argument she used. And so, she sighed and retorted, "Fine, then, if you want to be like that, I'll figure out why myself!"

Wanda laughed. "Good luck with that, Esca."

"So you know too!" cried the blonde girl in utter betrayal. "Am I the only one who is clueless here?"

Pepper raised a hand. "No. I am confused too."

"Thank goodness," sighed Esca. "I thought it would be like old times."

That made the others laugh—but then Esca remembered something. "Speaking of plans that almost no one knows about… wait. I can't talk about it here, because Wanda is here. Never mind!"

Wanda cocked her head sideways before asking, "You're thinking about having a birthday party for me and Pietro, aren't you?"

Esca glared at her. "I don't like your powers sometimes."

"Neither do I, believe me," grumbled Wanda, but she offered a hopeless smile anyway.

"Okay, well, refrain from reading my mind for a moment. I know your birthday is in a month, but I'm already planning," declared Esca—at her insistence, Wanda nodded and focused really hard on avoiding looking into her mind. She knew that as much as Esca loved surprises, she loved giving someone **_else_** a surprise even more.

After a moment, Esca grinned. "Okay, you're good, Wanda! I was just thinking about what to get you guys."

Wanda began to protest, but her refutes were drowned out in the sound of four other women gabbing about, "Oh yes, presents! What do you like, Wanda? Is there anything in particular you need?"

Esca giggled as Wanda looked completely overwhelmed—seeing her mirth, Wanda stuck her tongue out. That, perhaps, only made Esca laugh harder.

As it was, this was the perfect excuse to make her escape and buy Wanda the perfect birthday present. "I'll be right back, you guys!" she exclaimed. She remembered seeing it earlier in one of the shops they'd visited… now was the time to snag it before someone else did.

The others waved farewell, see you in a minute. With that, Esca left Schwarma and hustled to get back to Hot Topic.

She crossed the busy streets quickly and rushed back into the store, immediately heading for the t-shirts. There was a perfect one for Wanda—it was red and gold, and it had the word "GRYFFINDOR" printed on it. Along with the shirt, she seized a Gryffindor scarf—and got a Slytherin one for Pietro too, although she had something else in mind for him—and went to the check-out.

The clerk noticed her from before and was kind enough to give her a discount, which made her grin.

After she was done impromptu shopping, Esca rushed out to rejoin her friends, determined not to let Wanda see what she had bought.

She wanted her gift to be a pleasant surprise—the same went for Pietro. But she didn't quite know what to get him… while Wanda was one of her best friends, Pietro was another matter entirely. Esca loved him, and because of that, she wanted to do something special.

Of course, she was already planning the surprise party; unfortunately, Wanda had discovered **_that_** ruse. But she didn't think that was enough. She wanted to do something she'd never done before, just for him.

As she walked the streets, a smile grew across Esca's face. A brilliant little idea had just popped into her head…

Esca hustled back to Schwarma, humming to herself…

She knew **_exactly_** what to do for Pietro.


	25. Note to Self: Never Get Drunk Again

Hey, guys! There are only five more chapters in this story after this, so I'm going to give you a bit of a layout of them... Chapter 26 is a bit of action, 27 is mainly for the funnies, 28 is even more action, 29 is fluff, and 30 is like the epilogue. I'm hoping that this is an acceptable road map because I've got them planned out and it's staying this way. XD

At any rate, you guys are great. Seriously, for sticking with me throughout this project, you lot are all that and a bag of chips. All of you: my readers, followers, favoriters, and reviewers. PS-Shout-out to **glittersweg** for reviewing last chapter!) Everyone go look up a recipe for homemade butterbeer because that sh*t is real.

That's all for now, folks! Have a MARVELous day! :)

* * *

Pietro and the other guys were bored as hell with the women out of the Tower.

Coupled with the fact that Barton was the one usually deciding what to do, the men were merely lounging around, bantering one another. Eventually, however, Stark decided that he wanted to play beer pong—Thor had been interested in what beer pong was.

Apparently, the god was a natural, and all but undefeatable. Pietro himself had never been good at beer pong, although he and Rogers stood to the sidelines, chuckling as all the others challenged Thor to game after game of said beer pong.

Eventually, Stark handed Pietro a type of wine he'd never tried before, and Pietro had decided he liked it. Seeing the interested look on Pietro's face after he tasted the wine, Stark's eyes widened. "Why do I feel like I've just created a monster?" he asked around.

Banner chuckled. "It's just wine, Tony. He'll be fine."

But Banner couldn't have been more wrong.

Within the next two hours, Pietro and Stark together had drained three bottles of the same wine, as Tony had a very high tolerance for alcohol and Pietro had an incredibly fast metabolism, so it took a lot to get him drunk. As it was, the three bottles were beginning to do their job—Pietro was stumbling around the common area before long, challenging Thor at beer pong despite his original resolve to **_not_** participate.

Of course, he lost, although he had fun playing. Seeing how intoxicated he and Stark were getting, the others—except Rogers, who just shook his head—laughed.

"Better make sure we get this man a bucket before he goes to sleep tonight," muttered Rogers, a hopeless groan on his face.

James threw an arm around his shoulder. "Come on, Steve, you have to admit downing two bottles of wine all but singlehandedly is a pretty impressive feat."

Rogers grunted, but said nothing.

For another few minutes, the guys were roaring around the Tower. It was about ten o'clock at night, however, that Esca Rarity and the other women returned, laughing to each other about girly stuff. Or so Pietro figured, anyway.

When Esca Rarity took a look at the scene, she sighed and shook her head. "Have you lot been drinking all night?" she scolded formidably.

Before Pietro could respond, Rogers sighed and crossed his arms. "I'd suggest finding safe cover until morning, ladies. They're all going to have hangovers."

"Except me," volunteered James. "I can't get drunk either."

Rogers gave his friend a grin before turning back to the females. Pietro, however, decided he wanted to welcome his girlfriend home and sauntered over to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Evening, Miss Rarity," he exclaimed, a slap-happy grin on his face.

Esca Rarity raised her eyebrows. "Wow, you **_are_** drunk," she declared mildly. Her gaze landed on the captain again as she asked, "How much as Tony given him this time?"

Pietro chuckled at her words of "this time." It wasn't the first—and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Getting drunk was an essential in the book of brotherly bonding, and the Avengers were no exception.

As it was, Rogers gestured to the table in aggravation. On said table were three bottles of wine and three bottles of beer. "Does that answer your question, Miss Esca?"

Esca Rarity gaped at the empty bottles on the table before sighing and putting a hand to her head. "Pietro, you are going to feel **_terrible_** in the morning. Haven't you learned by now?"

Pietro just chuckled and started swaggering back to Stark, who was waving him over. "We'll see about that. I'll feel great in the morning if I wake up and see you next to me, love."

There was a scoff behind him, and he heard her mutter indignantly, "Love?! Since when have we adopted **_that?_** "

"Since now!" he exclaimed, rushing back to throw an arm around her shoulder before steering her back to Stark and Thor, both of whom were challenging Pietro to yet another game of beer pong.

"Pietro, I have to go put my stuff upstairs. I'll come back down in just a minute—"

For the first time, he realized Esca Rarity was carrying a few shopping bags. He was curious about what she got, and he peeked inside one of the Hot Topic bags—

"Hey, hey, hey!" she cried out, yanking the bag out of his reach. "You can't look in there!"

"Why ever not?" he questioned innocently.

"Because there are birthday presents in there and I don't want you knowing what it is before your and Wanda's birthday. Besides, if you know what **_her_** present is, she'll just read your mind and it won't be a surprise anymore!"

He gazed at her in mock hurt. "But now I'm curious."

She giggled. "You'll have to wait until your birthday. Just because I love you doesn't mean you get special privileges when it comes to surprises."

Pietro sulked. "I hate waiting."

"You'll learn to deal with it," she taunted, smiling sweetly.

Since she wouldn't tell him what was in the bag, Pietro sighed theatrically. "Fine, then. I suppose I'll simply have to **_guess_** about what's in there. It's from Hot Topic, but you might have just put some random item in the bag to cover your tracks… Maybe it's something a little exciting?" he questioned after a pause, smirking at her.

Esca Rarity raised her eyebrow again. "What do you mean, exciting?"

Before Pietro could answer, Stark threw a drunken arm around her shoulder. "The man means exactly what he says, blondie; something **_quite_** exciting." He wiggled an eyebrow at her for emphasis, and Esca Rarity looked astounded.

"I bought nothing of the sort," she retorted. "Now, I'm going to put this in my room—"

"She doesn't want us to see her lingerie," sighed Pietro theatrically. "I suppose that's my privilege. Sorry, old man."

Stark frowned, yet rolled his eyes. "Sure, Maximoff, I'm sure you are. But the joke's on you—I've got the lovely Pepper Potts."

"Betcha she doesn't wear lingerie."

"I didn't buy lingerie!" protested Esca Rarity, a frown coming across her face. "In fact, I've never worn any, nor do I want to! Now both of you; please stop teasing me like that."

"Betcha she does," shot back Stark to Pietro. Both of them entirely ignored Esca Rarity.

"Betcha she isn't as skilled as Esca Rarity at night."

"Pietro!" shouted Esca Rarity, her face turning beet red and her lips parted in utter shock. "That… that isn't—isn't something… you just say like that! I mean, it's not like I had a… a **_choice_** or anything regarding Germany!"

Pietro failed to see that her face was red out of anger as well as embarrassment, and so he replied, "Maybe not, but I guess it worked out for me."

Esca Rarity faltered. Her eyes were wide and shining, but Pietro was too drunk to notice. "That isn't funny, Pietro. That isn't funny at all. I was—not everything was by my design, Pietro, that isn't **_funny!_** I was **_raped!_** "

But neither Pietro nor Stark were listening. In fact, Stark burst out laughing. Pietro soon joined him—but his laughter was immediately cut off whenever Esca Rarity sobbed, "You are a jerk, Pietro Maximoff. I'm going to bed."

Then she seized her bags, escaped from underneath Pietro's shoulder, and raced for the stairs without looking back.

"W-wait! Esca!" he exclaimed, but he was so goddamn drunk that he tripped over the couch and almost landed flat on his face. By the time he got up, she was already out of sight.

Pietro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. What had he just said, exactly? He couldn't even remember. But when he saw the somber look on Thor's and Banner's faces, he figured it must've been bad.

As if knowing that he'd just hurt Esca Rarity's feelings wasn't bad enough, it got worse.

Rogers stormed up to him, his expression one that promised murder.

"You and I are going to have a little talk," he growled—and then the captain threw Pietro over his shoulder.

Pietro didn't say anything for a moment in pure shock. But then, realizing what was happening, he burst out, "Hey! Cap! Put me down! What the fuck are you doing?"

"You watch your language!" retorted Rogers furiously, giving Pietro no hint that he was getting down anytime soon.

Knowing that there wasn't anything else for it, Pietro sighed and allowed Rogers to carry him into the next room. Once the captain slammed the door shut behind them, he plopped Pietro on a couch and glared at him angrily.

"Do you realize what you've just said to her?" asked Rogers, almost deathly quiet.

"You're talking to the man who can't remember how he got into this room," laughed Pietro, leaning casually back into the couch. "When did we get here?"

Rogers sighed and slapped a hand to his forehead, as if Pietro not remembering was even worse than if he had. But then, he removed his hand from obscuring his eyes, and Pietro could see how angry Rogers was as he explained, "You just laughed at her—ignored her when she told you to stop teasing her. You laughed at her after she reminded you she was… she was **_used_** by those horrid Germans."

Pietro stared at Rogers. He blinked. "No, I—" he started to say, but he was cut off.

"She had tears in her eyes and you laughed at her."

Pietro swallowed. Did that really just happen? This was worse than he had expected. She had been **_crying_** and he'd **_laughed_** at her? As if her entire situation, her entire past, had been a **_joke?_**

"Hell," Pietro whispered, more to himself than anything. He felt godawful now, and he figured he deserved it. He remembered how she'd hurt him by telling him she couldn't tell him her past for the ironic reason that she didn't want to hurt him. But finally she'd opened up and told him everything, trusted him with her heart. And now he'd just done exactly what he promised he'd never do—hurt her. With her own past.

"God," he moaned, leaping up from the couch. He stared manically at Rogers, who was leaning forward as he spoke. "Did I really just do that? Please tell me I didn't. Please— ** _shit!_** "

He kicked the leg of the couch and felt his toe throb. He probably deserved that.

The captain sighed. "I wish I were joking. I… hated… seeing her like that."

His tone of voice made Pietro stop short. "You think **_you_** hated it? Now that I know what just happened, I sort of hate myself. Why should **_you_** care, anyway?"

Rogers glared back up at Pietro, his blue eyes sharp. "Mind your own business, Maximoff."

Pietro stopped pacing the room and stared at the captain, at the way Rogers's fists were clenched, the way he was tense and so full of fury, the way his eyes contained anger and something else: sympathy. For Esca Rarity.

"You know, she really loves you," murmured Rogers. Pietro wasn't sure if Rogers was trying to comfort him by saying that, but the words hit him like a truck. He already knew she loved him, and look just how well he'd treated her. "She'll forgive you."

"I don't know," he sighed. His rapid metabolism was helping him become sober faster than he'd expected; it was also probably helped by the fact that he was no longer drinking. "I wouldn't if I were her."

"Now you're just being dramatic," smirked the captain. After a short silence, he added, "Although, I suppose now is a good time to tell you this: If you are ever **_sober_** and you do something like this, I will personally come after you. We all threaten to beat each other up if we hurt anyone's girl—Bucky, for one, will kill anyone who touches Zelda. I'm sure of **_that._** But if it's Miss Esca, he won't exchange blows. He'll verbally fight you, not physically. The others would all do the same. But not me. Miss Esca has become dear to all of us, but you can be damn sure that I'm going to protect her from **_anyone._** So if this happens again... you'll want to use that super-speed to lay low for a week or so."

Pietro, despite feeling threatened, couldn't help but grin. It was nice to know that someone else had Esca Rarity's back.

"Don't worry, Cap," he said. He was almost completely sober by this time; he figured that was the case based on the weight settling on his chest. "I'll personally make sure it **_doesn't_** happen again. But I appreciate you looking out for her. Thanks for that."

Rogers smiled halfheartedly and slapped a hand on Pietro's arm. "No problem. I've got her back—and yours, if you ever need it."

"And I've got yours."

Another uncomfortable silence. And then Rogers sighed, "You want to go check on her, make sure she's okay?"

Pietro shook his head. "I think she'll need time before she wants to see me. But… someone might need to talk to her."

Rogers glanced at Pietro sideways, but said nothing.

"If you think they should, anyway," amended Pietro, shrugging.

After another moment, Rogers nodded and sighed. "Alright. I'll make sure she's okay. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow morning."

Pietro sighed too. "Thanks."

The captain rose and started to head towards the door. Then he added over his shoulder, "Nice chat, Maximoff. Glad we got some stuff sorted out. Just don't forget—" he pointed at Pietro in a mock-threatening manner, "You hurt her, I **_will_** kick your ass."

"Such language," scolded Pietro halfheartedly.

The captain just smirked before leaving the room to go check on Esca Rarity.

Once he was gone, Pietro sighed out through his nose… it had been a helluva night.

He decided not to head to his own room. He probably deserved to just sleep on a couch. And so he lay down and vowed something to himself: **_never_** get this drunk again.


	26. The Scene on the Streets

Hello, my wonderful readers! Here is the next chapter. Such excitement! Thanks for reading this and all my other chapters, you guys. You're so cool! And I hope everyone enjoyed Ant-Man! Unfortunately I've been so busy I haven't seen it yet but I'm really excited to do so! No spoilers please! ;)

Also, a special shout-out to **LightInTheDark245, Saint of the Sinners, dorkycorky88** (thanks for reviewing so constantly! :D), and my great **Guest** for their reviews! I love your comments, guys! Thanks so much!

That's really all for now... Thanks for sticking with me, guys! Countdown to the end: 4 chapters!

Have a MARVELous day!

* * *

"Who is it?"

"It's just me," said Steve's voice.

"Come in," moaned Esca miserably.

She heard the door open and saw a brief flash of light from the hallway before Steve walked inside. When she'd reached her room, Esca had turned off the lights and simply sat on the bed, her knees crushed up against her chest in a futile attempt to restrain her tears. She knew that Pietro had been amazingly drunk and that he wouldn't remember what he said the next morning, but it still hurt.

He knew of her circumstances. It was one thing to mention them—another entirely to tease her about them with the rest of the Avengers listening in.

"Hey," murmured Steve as he sat next to her. "You okay?"

"No," she mumbled, burying her head in her knees. "I'm very upset."

"You have a right to be," sighed Steve. Esca glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and noted that he looked angry—and defeated. Had something just happened to him?

She was about to ask him if **_he_** was alright when he spoke again. "I know it isn't my place to apologize for him or anything, but Maximoff seemed really upset with himself over… what just happened. I talked to him," he added before Esca could ask. "He'll probably talk to you tomorrow once he's back to normal."

Esca sighed, not sure if she was comforted by this or not. On the one hand, she knew that he would talk to her eventually. On the other, she wasn't sure if she was ready for it yet.

"And anyway, you shouldn't take anything that was said into serious account. Whether he was drunk or not, never let it bring you down. You're an amazing person, Miss Esca: smart and resourceful and lovely. You're honestly too amazing to be brought down by anything regarding your past."

Esca felt a lump in her throat at his words. "Thanks, Steve," she managed to choke, not sure what else to say.

There was a bit of silence before Steve glanced at her and noted the way she was sitting. He sighed too. "It's alright, Miss Esca," he murmured, gently placing a hand on her arm. "It'll be alright."

Although he had meant it in a comforting way, that was what made the tears spill from Esca's eyes. Hearing her begin to cry, Steve pulled her close into a hug. Esca immediately wrapped her arms around him, needing the comfort. She wanted to restrain her tears, to keep herself from crying, but that wasn't going to happen.

And so she leaned her head on Steve's shoulder, grateful that he was with her. He kissed the top of her head gently before murmuring, "Will you be alright, Miss Esca?"

She nodded as best as she could with her head lodged on his shoulder. "I will be. I just… need a minute."

"I'll be here," he reassured her, making her smile.

"Thanks, Steve," she murmured. "That means a lot."

Esca felt rather than saw him smile, but he was quiet. For a while more, they remained like that—she took as much comfort as she could from his being there. After a minute, however, she sighed, "We should get some sleep. Thank you for coming to check on me."

"I'm not leaving until I know you get to sleep," he declared obstinately, which made her laugh.

"Steve."

"Esca. I'm staying here to make sure you're okay."

Esca couldn't help but giggle. "You're impossible, Captain."

"I'm protective," he defended himself, although there was a laugh on his face as well.

Seeing this, Esca sighed hopelessly and shook her head. " ** _Fine,_** then, Steven. If you want to be overprotective, you may."

"Good. I wouldn't have allowed you to insist you were alright before I'm certain you were anyway."

She laughed again and smiled at Steve before burying herself under the covers of her bed. She felt him kiss her forehead before he declared, "I'll be in the chair over there until you fall asleep. Then I'll leave."

She nodded sleepily and murmured, "Good night, Steve."

"Good night, Miss Esca."

And Esca closed her eyes, feeling much better than before.

* * *

Esca awoke the next morning to feel the bed strangely empty. Before she was fully awake, she stretched an arm out as if to see where Pietro was—but then she remembered what happened the previous night, what he'd said and teased her about, and she frowned into her pillow.

But then she remembered that Steve had come to check on her.

She blinked and looked across the room. A small smile filled her face seeing the captain dozing in the chair on the opposite side of the room—apparently he'd fallen asleep as well.

Esca stretched before walking over to Steve and gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey there, sleepy," she murmured. "I'm going to go make breakfast. It'll be ready in half an hour if you want to use this time to sleep, okay?"

The captain mumbled something that she thought was, "Hold on, wait for me," before lethargically rising and rubbing his eyes.

She smiled as Steve stretched and joined her.

Once they were in the kitchen, Esca sighed and moved toward the stove. She felt like making French Toast this morning—she quickly grabbed the ingredients and starting combining them before she finally said, "Thanks for coming to check on me, by the way. In case I didn't say it earlier."

Steve smiled. "It's no problem, Miss Esca. You are my friend, and I wanted to make sure you were alright. How are you feeling, by the way?"

Esca took a deep, easy breath. "Much better. A good night's sleep helped, I think." With that, she smiled again and moved to the pantry, hoping to locate some cinnamon…

Suddenly, Esca frowned. She rummaged through the pantry: cumin, basil, vanilla, almond extract…

"Drat," she exhaled in defeat. "We're out of cinnamon. I need to go to the store to grab some more."

"Why don't you just do it after breakfast?"

"I don't think you understand the importance of cinnamon in my French toast," remarked Esca mildly, although she was restraining a grin as she said this. She faced Steve again and questioned, "Do you think you could guard this for me, to make sure it doesn't burn?"

"I've got that, no worries," said a new voice. Both Esca and Steve turned to see that it was Natasha, looking groggy yet gorgeous as always. She smirked and waved the two of them off. "You two go get cinnamon. I'm going to stay here and get my much needed coffee."

Her words suddenly reminded Esca—"Oh yeah, we need more coffee soon too. I'll grab some of that. Any requests on what kind?"

"Columbian," answered Nat immediately. "I don't care if Tony hates it, it's everyone else's favorite."

That made Esca laugh. "Alright, I'll grab Columbian and something else for Tony, then. Be back in fifteen minutes. Steve, do you want to come?"

The captain shrugged. "Sure, I'll come with you. I woke up too late for my walk, anyway, so this'll have to do."

Esca smiled, and then she and Steve walked to the elevator to head to the grocery store around the corner. When they were outside, Esca breathed deeply. "Sometimes, I just need to get out of the Tower… Do you ever feel like that?"

"Only every day," he replied with a chuckle. He glanced at Esca and remarked, "You look like you're waiting for something to happen, Miss Esca."

Hearing this, she shrugged. "Ever since helping out with your mission… I've been wondering… if maybe I could do so again. I know I didn't do much regarding firepower, but just telling you all what I knew, and being there, felt quite fulfilling. I… liked… being an Avenger. For just that little bit of time, anyway," she giggled a little sadly.

Steve glanced at her as she spoke and replied, "Well, Miss Esca, if there is another mission… if Nat and Bucky and Clint have trained you up enough… I see no reason for you not to come."

Esca beamed. "Really?!"

"Really," he declared with another laugh. He raised an eyebrow in mock suspicion. "You seem much too happy about this, Miss Esca."

"I just really like helping out," she grinned.

He returned the grin; it was silent between them for a while. Esca used the silence as an opportunity to gaze over the city streets… as it was early in the morning, it wasn't as busy as it **_normally_** was. But still, there were cars honking and dozens of people lining the sidewalks, all struggling to get someplace.

The smell of the city filled Esca, and she smiled as she looked across the street to see a little boy walking a puppy. His mother was buying something from a street vendor—probably a snow cone for her son.

But as Esca watched, the puppy broke loose from its leash, and it ran out into the street.

And the boy followed him.

And there were cars barreling right towards him.

Esca cried out and ignored Steve's question of what was wrong. She threw herself into the street, sprinting toward the boy, running as fast as she physically could.

The boy seemed to realize his mistake. He had caught his dog, and he held the little creature in his arms as he closed his eyes and turned away from the oncoming car.

" ** _NO!_** " shrieked Esca. She threw herself in front of the boy and lifted her hands, attempting with all her might to throw a large shield in front of her.

There was a sudden scream—perhaps from the boy's mother—and Esca heard Steve and someone else scream, " ** _Esca!_** "

A mighty _CRASH_ and horns honking and brakes skidding, and Esca opened the eyes she didn't remember closing only to see the car heading towards her. Her shield hadn't been powerful enough to stop the car—only to slow it down.

In a last ditch attempt to save the boy, she used her powers to force him and his puppy back to the sidewalk.

And then Esca was tossed to the side as the car hit her—she spiraled through the air and landed on her back on the street.

"Oh my God," she heard the mother of the boy whisper. But other than that, the city suddenly became dead silent, for perhaps the first time in its history.

" ** _Esca!_** " shouted a voice.

Esca glanced over to see Steve running toward her, a panicked look on his face. She felt her head being lifted up and she was confused, as Steve wasn't beside her yet.

She struggled to glanced over; she blinked as she saw Pietro, his blue-gray eyes shining with worry. "Esca Rarity," he gasped, "what the **_hell_** did you do that for?"

She sighed and tried to lift herself off the ground, but she cried out as she tried to sit up. The wind had been completely knocked out of her, and her stomach was going to sport a nasty bruise for the upcoming week or two. But she merely exhaled, "I had to help," at Pietro's insistence.

Pietro threw a hand to his forehead, looking immensely exasperated. "Are you alright?"

"I won't die," she retorted, shrugging. "I just… I need a minute."

Suddenly, Esca felt her hand being **_licked._**

She started and glanced over to see the puppy licking her hand. Kneeling beside it was the boy. Now that he was closer, Esca could tell that he was only seven or eight years old; certainly too young to be hit by a car in New York City. And above **_him_** stood his mother, whose hands were to her throat as she gasped a strangled thanks for Esca's help.

For the first time, Esca realized that there were bright flashes surrounding her and the others. She glanced up to see cameras everywhere—cell phones encircled her. She looked at Pietro and Steve, both of whom were kneeling over her, their faces worried as they held her close.

Seeing their worry, Esca just smiled. "I'm fine," she insisted. "Really. I just… need another minute."

"Esca Rarity," began Pietro, but he couldn't say anything more.

As it was, Esca could see the question in his eyes. In answer to the unspoken _why,_ she murmured, "If I'm going to be an Avenger… I'll need to act like one."

And then she exhaled and closed her eyes, needing to escape the chaos that engulfed her.


	27. Tabloids, Tabloids, and More Tabloids

Hello, wonderful readers! I finished this chapter a bit earlier than expected and wanted to waste no time posting it. Therefore, voila! New chapter! :)

So... 130 reviews, 175 favorites, and 250 followers. Like. Wow. Thank you all so much for your support. You're the coolest cats. This is amazing! A special shoutout to all of you who've favorited and followed, and of course, a big thank you to **Saint of the Sinners, dorkycorky88.** and **WriterandDaydreamer4218** for their reviews! Thanks again for being so amazing, everyone. Love ya, mean it!

Also, Ant-Man was amazing. EVERYONE GO SEE IT! I might have a little tribute to it in my next chapter... Not much, just a little...

Countdown to end: 3 chapters.

Have a MARVELous day, everyone!

* * *

"I am never letting you out of my sight again, Esca Rarity."

Esca just laughed at Pietro's exasperation. Sure, her left arm and wrist needed a cast and her stomach had a giant purple soccer-ball sized bruise on it, but she wasn't **_dead._**

"You are overreacting," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Calm down, **_mom_**."

Pietro groaned and slapped another hand to his forehead as the others all laughed.

It was a single day after the incident in the street; upon hearing what had happened, almost everyone was either impressed, shocked, worried, or a combination of the three. Pietro had even gone so far as to message Clint about what happened, and the archer insisted on having a video chat with Esca to be certain she was okay.

Steve, meanwhile, was incessantly smothering her with blankets despite Esca insisting that she was perfectly fine, but thank you Steve. The captain apparently felt guilty for her stunt, as he believed that she had been his responsibility whilst out on the walk.

It was at that moment when Bruce walked back into the common area. He had done an X-ray of Esca's arm earlier in the morning in order to determine if she had any fractures or breaks. The cast had been a precaution beforehand, but now came the real verdict.

"Well," declared the doctor, clapping his hands together. "The good news is: nothing's broken or fractured."

"What's the bad news?" asked Pietro.

"The bad news is she'll have to keep that cast on for a few days or so. Her left wrist is sprained. Not torn, luckily, but the sprain isn't something to wave off."

Esca nodded and sighed. "Drat. I want to get back to my cooking."

That made James and Bruce laugh. The doctor shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, Esca, but you'll have to wait for a while, unless you want to get back to cooking with only one arm."

"That sounds okay with me," she murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, I want French Toast. I never got some yesterday. Who wants to come with me to get that cinnamon? And coffee?"

"No," declared both Steve and Pietro at the same time. The two exchanged looks before smirking at one another. It was Pietro who took over next. "I don't care who goes to get the damn cinnamon, but it won't be you. You're under house arrest."

Esca sighed and narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I'll just go anyway."

"I'll stop you."

Esca grumbled under her breath about how irritatingly overprotective he was and guess what, Pietro, I still haven't quite forgiven you for getting super drunk even **_if_** you were super sweet yesterday and by the way we still need to talk.

Steve laughed at her malcontent expression and volunteered, "I'll get some. Does anyone need anything else?"

There weren't many suggestions, as Esca was the one who knew what the Tower needed, more so than Tony or even Pepper. With a short list in hand, Steve said farewell and left to grab the groceries for the Tower.

Once he was gone, there was a short silence. The Avengers simply glanced at one another, as no one was quite sure what to do. Unnerved by the silence, Esca rose and gathered the ingredients for French Toast before asking if anyone else wanted anything.

This, luckily, got the ball somewhat rolling; Esca soon had a request for scrambled eggs, bacon, and apple waffles. Since she had all the ingredients necessary for these three things, Esca quickly began making the breakfast foods, never mind the fact that it was actually lunchtime.

As Esca was cooking and awaiting the cinnamon for the French Toast, the others began chatting. Wanda was talking to Vision and Thor about showing them the Harry Potter movies, Natasha and Bruce were sitting next to each other on the couch, his arm around her shoulder, James and Zelda and Pepper and Tony were all laughing about something…

And Pietro was walking toward her.

"Anything I can do to help?" he questioned.

Esca glanced across everything she was making and shook her head. "I don't think so, but thank you for your offer, Pietro."

He glanced at her for a moment before finally nodding. His gaze lowered to the counter he was leaning on before exhaling and murmuring, "Esca Rarity, I—would like to apologize. For what happened the night before last. I know there is no excuse; it was my choice to drink as much as I did. What I said was rather heartless, and I understand if you are still upset. I just thought I'd ask for forgiveness, even if I don't deserve it."

Hearing this, Esca sighed and couldn't help but smile halfheartedly. "I thought about being mad at you for a while, but honestly, I cannot stay mad at you for too long. Consider yourself quite lucky," she added with a short chuckle.

"Don't worry, I do," mumbled Pietro. His tone of voice made Esca laugh—a question then popped into her head.

"Pietro?" she asked. "I just realized something… how did you know I was hurt yesterday morning? How did you find me and Steve?"

Pietro blinked and glanced back down at the counter. "Natasha told me you two had gone to grab some groceries. I wanted to try and use the opportunity to talk to you."

Esca looked at him sideways; the explanation was certainly sound enough, but there was something in his voice that bothered her…

She never got around to it, however, because at that moment, Steve returned, looking thoroughly disgruntled.

Esca immediately thanked him for helping out with buying the items, but he uncharacteristically ignored it. Instead, he glared at something in his hand—before Esca could ask what it was, he tossed it toward Tony and grumbled, "Your mail's here, Stark."

Tony caught the rolled up paper easily and glanced at what it was. He blinked once or twice before opening the paper—it was a magazine, Esca recognized it now—and promptly bursting into laughter.

"What is it?" inquired Esca, peering over to get a good look. She caught a glimpse of the title page and froze.

It was a picture of her, sprawled against the ground, slumped up against Pietro and Steve. Her eyes were open, and there was blood pooled around her.

Esca frowned. "I wasn't bleeding," she declared.

"No, you weren't," agreed Steve, still grumpy. "But apparently these journalists decided to take some liberty with the story. And of course, the actual story isn't what they focused on…"

"Then what did they focus on?" questioned Esca.

Before she could ask more questions, Tony handed the magazine to Esca. "Here you are, blondie. Knock yourself out."

Frowning still, she opened the paper. The main picture jumped out at her—Esca wondered if she'd really looked like that, so small and beaten up. Then she remembered it was probably Photoshop… She skimmed the article below.

At first, it didn't look misleading at all. There was an accurate summary of the events the previous morning: the boy's puppy running into the street, the boy following, Esca helping stop the car. There was even some correct speculation that she was part of the Avengers, and that she had powers along with some of the others in the group.

But after **_that_** was where everything went sour.

"They're really just going to skip to who I'm **_dating?!_** " she burst out, her face red.

"What?" exclaimed Pietro, budging over to read the article as well. A frown appeared on his face as he read the paper; he soon looked as sour as Tony did whenever the Tower was fresh out of Moscato.

Esca put a hand to her head and read one of the paragraphs out loud: " _Concern for the newest addition to the superhuman group, the Avengers, runs rampant throughout New York. Many are taking a great interest in the girl: where she came from, who she is, and who holds her heart. Some speculation has been made saying that the patriotic figurehead, Captain America, is a close friend of hers. Arguments **have** been made, however, that another of the Avengers' newer additions, Quicksilver, is even closer than Captain America."_

At the end of her reading, Esca shoved the paper away from her in disgust. "It's like personality doesn't matter anymore. Nowadays it's just about who's dating who. Ridiculous."

"Quicksilver?" repeated Pietro, looking confused.

Tony laughed. "I may or may not have helped spread that around a bit."

Pietro groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead.

"How did the press find out about me only **_now?_** " pondered Esca aloud. "I've been here for a year, give or take. They're a bit behind the times."

"That's because when we helped the people of Sokovia, we kept those matters quiet," replied Tony, shrugging. "Pepper kept the matter under the radar, so that meant no press, no fans, and peace and quiet. It was rather nice… We just leaked out a little information about three kids from Sokovia joining us as a group. We didn't let them know much about you three, or else the press would've been all over you."

"Well, they're certainly having a field day **_now,_** " sighed Pietro, rolling his eyes. "It's annoying."

Thor chuckled. "Worry not, my friend. I am sure they shall leave you alone before too much longer. Do not give them a reason to bother you, and they shall grow tired quickly."

Esca grinned. "That's exactly what I plan to do, Thor."

"That means no missions," declared Steve, raising an eyebrow.

Esca froze before glancing back at the captain. "Drat," she exhaled, slumping in defeat. "Does it really?"

The captain nodded. "You get a choice: the press, or the simple life."

It took a couple seconds for Esca to figure out what she'd rather do. "I'll take the press," she declared with a final nod.

Steve looked shocked. "Is that really the case, Miss Esca? Why?"

"I'd rather help you guys with your missions, help people, and be interrogated than sit in this Tower, waiting for word of what's going on, who you're fighting, and how. All my life, I've wished for a simple life. Now, I realize I'd rather have a **_meaningful_** one. And the way I'll achieve that is if I truly earn my stripes and become an Avenger… that is, if you'll have me," she added meekly, gazing up at the rest of her friends.

Each of them gazed at the others; small smiles began being passed around. Until finally, everyone automatically turned to Pietro.

Seeing everyone's attention on him, Pietro raised an eyebrow. "What, am I the deciding factor for this?" he asked.

"You'd certainly be the first to protest if you were against it," remarked Bruce mildly.

Pietro sighed and looked at Esca, who was gazing at him eagerly. Finally, he seemed to succumb. "All **_right._** Fine. You can be an Avenger. But I'm training you myself too."

Esca grinned and threw her good arm around him for a hug. "Thank you!" she gasped. "I wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway, but it's good to know you're okay with it!"

Pietro glared at her for a moment before his gaze softened, and he wrapped an arm around her. "I'm still not letting you out of my sight," he added, if only for good measure.

With this, Esca grinned and pulled away before lightly grasping his pinkie finger with hers. Almost instantly after she did this, however, she remembered that she had food cooking on the stove, and she rushed to finish it before the food burned.

Once it was all rectified, Tony sauntered over and, giggling incessantly, plopped down three more magazines that all had the same exaggerated cover picture. With a childish grin on his face, he declared, "Look at these."

Esca frowned. "I don't have to. They're all speculating about whom I am dating."

"Yep," answered Tony complacently. He looked over his shoulder at Pietro and exclaimed, "Better step up your game, Maximoff! Most of these people think she and Cap are a thing!"

Pietro narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles in a mock threat.

Steve saw this and chuckled. "Pistols at dawn?"

"You bet your ass."

Esca burst into laughter and almost dropped the plate of bacon on the counter, knowing that they would never do anything of the sort. They were a bunch of jokers, after all—with this in mind, she served everyone their food.

And of course, by mid-afternoon, the tabloids were completely forgotten.


	28. First Day on the Job

Hello, awesome people! So, this might be the only update for a couple days because I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, a procedure I'm less than excited for. I hope this'll suffice until I can write again! Haha :)

Thanks to everyone for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! You guys are the best! :)

That's really all for now, folks! Have a MARVELous day, alright?

Countdown to end: 2 chapters.

* * *

A week later, Esca was three-two-one **_done_** with all the press following her around everywhere she went. She couldn't even go **_grocery shopping_** without someone wanting a selfie or an autograph. She supposed she should've expected it, but it was still ridiculous.

Tony had finally let slip that Esca had become an Avenger—and now she was getting mobbed by journalists asking what it was like, being under the wing of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. She had tried disguising herself with hats or sunglasses, but to no avail. Nowadays, she refused to leave the Tower with anyone, because she was certain that if she did, the next morning there'd be a tabloid about her dating whoever she'd went out with.

As it was, when there came a newspaper that suggested she and Tony were dating—at which headline Pietro spit out his coffee and Tony started to laugh like a maniac—Esca was ready to face the press head-on and tell them about her place among the Avengers, if only to dispel the rumors.

When she relayed her plans by the others, however, Steve frowned and said, "I'm not sure that's the best idea, Miss Esca. If the wrong ears get wind of what you might mean to us… that could be a problem."

"How so?" contested Esca, placing her hands on her hips.

"You could be kidnapped and used as bait," suggested Tony cheerily, a silly grin on his face.

"Is that funny to you, Stark?" asked Pietro dangerously.

Sensing Pietro's tone of voice, Tony instantly sobered up and cleared his throat. "Oh, no, of course not. Not funny at all. Nope. Not a bit. You can count on it."

Pietro scoffed and rolled his eyes while Esca just giggled.

"Well, that's the thing, isn't it?" questioned Zelda through a mouthful of French toast. She swallowed before continuing because of the mocking look James gave her. "If you prove that you are capable of holding your own—say, on a mission—then no baddies will be tempted to use you as bait, Esca."

Everyone blinked and stared at Zelda as James nodded approvingly.

After a moment, Pietro asked, "How did you come up with that?"

Zelda snorted. "I worked with HYDRA for two years, Pietro. I know what they do. And **_this_** old man—" She gestured to James, "has been there for seventy years, so if he thinks it's a good idea, it probably is."

James sighed theatrically and complained, "We've already established that I'm only ninety-seven years old."

"That was two years ago. Now you're ninety-nine. Say, Grandpoppy J, how does it feel knowing you're about to hit the triple digits?"

Steve burst into laughter; he didn't stop when Zelda reminded him that he was only a year younger than James, either.

Esca, however, was looking thoughtful as she mused, "That… might work… if it means the press stops bothering me while I'm shopping…"

Pietro's eyes widened. "Oh, no," he declared, starting to wag a finger at her. "No."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, a beam lighting her face. "If I can prove that I can defend myself, I won't be a target, and maybe the press will give me some space!"

Hearing this, Pietro shot Zelda an exasperated glance as if to say, _" **Now** look what you've done."_

Zelda, however, looked delighted. "Makes sense to me!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands. She glanced over at Natasha and asked, "What do you think, Nat?"

"I think she needs to get out more," retorted Natasha, grinning sideways. "And I also think that Clint and I have trained Esca up enough so that she can be put on a mission."

Esca thanked Natasha excitedly while Steve and Pietro groaned.

"Oh, we're never going to hear the end of it now," sighed Pietro, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Pietro, you've got to admit it's a good idea," laughed Wanda, who was obviously amused by her brother's reluctance.

He crossed his arms and grumbled, "Technically, I don't have to."

"Oh, lighten up, Maximoff!" exclaimed Tony. "Blondie's capable. She's ready."

At this, Pietro turned to Steve for assistance. Seeing that he was expected to say something, Steve held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, don't look at me. I trust Natasha's training."

Esca grinned and bounced back over to Pietro. "You're literally the only one not on board with me going on a mission," she teased. "Do you know that?"

"Yes, but—"

"If your reluctance is because of a lack of trust in my training—" started Natasha.

"No, it's not, I just—"

"Do you not trust me?" questioned Esca, a defeated look on her face.

"Of course I do!"

"Then why are you—"

" ** _I don't want to lose you!_** " burst out Pietro angrily. He jerked away from Esca, which made her gasp. Everyone immediately became silent as Pietro continued to rant. "I've lost people I care about before, Esca Rarity! My parents! Wanda almost **_died_** when we were experimented on, I almost lost her, too—and you just got hit by a goddamn **_car!_** And I **_watched it happen!_** Don't ask me to witness something like that again, because I will not! I will **_not._** "

Everyone froze at Pietro's rant. They'd always thought that he just didn't want her going in case she got hurt or in case she became addicted to the way the Avengers lived.

They hadn't expected this.

It was Esca and Wanda who approached him first. They both grasped one of his hands in reassurance; it did little to rid him of his ashen face.

After another moment, Steve spoke up. "If it means anything to you, Maximoff, you aren't the only one who's terrified of losing Miss Esca. Look around."

He gestured around the common area—everyone was there.

Pietro looked around and sighed before lightly smiling and tightening his grip around Esca's and Wanda's hands. "Alright," he exhaled. "I just worry."

"I'll be close to you so you do not have to," promised Esca. Then, however, she glanced at Steve and asked, "So… what **_is_** the next mission?"

Steve shrugged. "Stark, do you want to expand our perimeters for something?"

Tony grinned a shark's grin. "Happy to, Capsicle," he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in evil eagerness. He then leapt off the couch he was lounging on and skipped over to a nearby computer.

Seeing his exhilaration, Esca sighed. "He seems way too happy about this."

"Humph," grumbled Pietro—but when Esca raised an eyebrow, he just smirked.

Almost immediately, Tony exclaimed, "Got something! There's been a prison break in Queens. We should probably check that out before anyone gets hurt."

"How long ago did that happen?" asked Bruce, a light frown on his face.

"Um… fourteen hours ago," replied Tony, squinting at the computer screen. "That means our targets can't have gotten anywhere fast. It was a light explosion that allowed the three of them to escape—"

"Wait," exclaimed Natasha, her eyebrows furrowed. "An explosion? Prisoners wouldn't be able to get ahold of substances like that. They must've been broken out."

Bruce put a hand to his head. "Why would they be broken out?"

Clicking sounds came from the computer, and then Tony exhaled and declared irritably, "No idea. But it appears these jerks tried to get ahold of a serum created by Hank Pym… they were caught and thrown into jail. Until now, apparently."

Steve frowned. "We'll have to get them before they can attempt to steal the serum again."

"Hold on… it says the serum was mostly destroyed," declared Tony. "There's just a little bit left locked away that remains."

Esca stepped forward and glanced at the computer over Tony's shoulder. "Where is it?"

"No one knows. So you know what that means? They'll find people who can try and recreate the serum."

"HYDRA," snarled Steve, anger in every molecule in his face.

There was dead silence once this was said. Uneasy glances were passed around—when Pietro caught Esca's eye, she nodded in determination to let him know there was no way she'd be left out of this fight.

After another moment, however, Vision spoke up. "I highly doubt these characters would wait for an opportune moment, given their situation. I elect we leave now."

A murmur of consent passed around the room, and everyone stalked off to get ready except Esca, who had no idea what she was to do.

"Here, Esca," said Wanda, a light smile on her face. "Come with me. I have some mission clothes you can borrow."

Relieved, Esca thanked her and did as Wanda said.

* * *

Two hours later, the Avengers were scattered throughout New York City. Natasha, Tony, James, Zelda, and Steve were all searching the Queens area. Bruce, Wanda, and Vision were scouting Manhattan. Pepper was keeping an eye on Brooklyn from Stark Tower using cameras, and Thor, Pietro, and Esca were guarding the old HYDRA headquarters from two years ago.

Esca completely understood why Wanda, James, and Zelda wanted to steer clear of the place. If anything, it was expected. Yet despite how antsy Pietro seemed to be close by, he was relentless in his determination to stay by Esca. The reason they were stationed at HYDRA headquarters was because it was common thought that the stationing would be the least dangerous, and therefore a good beginning mission for Esca.

Unfortunately, a few citizens recognized the three—especially Thor—and asked for autographs and the sort.

Luckily, after a time, the people got bored and left. This left Thor, Pietro, and Esca with the job of scouting for suspicious characters…

After an hour of standing around, Pietro sighed. "I'm getting impatient."

"No big surprise," teased Esca, poking his arm and laughing at his noise of indignation. "Maybe it's time you learn some patience."

Thor chuckled at the comment—Pietro glared at him accusingly and exclaimed, "I can't help it! Ever since I got my powers, I just get shit done quickly. Waiting is not my forte."

Esca grinned smugly. "You'll have to learn."

"Oh, riiiight," he muttered lowly, his eyes narrowing as he recalled something she said a few nights past. "You're making me wait to figure out what you're doing for Wanda's and my birthday."

"Yep."

"You won't give me any clues, will you?"

"None whatsoever."

"You know what, Esca Rarity—"

"Incoming!" declared Thor, holding aloft Mjolnir.

Esca and Pietro glanced over to where Thor was glaring; Esca gasped. Three men in smart black suits were charging straight for the HYDRA headquarters, and they all had pistols pointed straight at them.

"Hell," muttered Pietro. With a swift kiss to Esca's forehead, he continued, "I'll take care of them. Be right back."

Hearing this, Esca gaped. "Hey, no, wait a minute!" she exclaimed, but too late. Two of the men had already crumpled to the ground, but the third one was wary of Pietro now. He glanced around and fired swiftly—Esca didn't see the bullet, but she heard Pietro curse loudly.

Thor moved forward and yanked the man up by his suit collar before chucking him back down to the ground. Then he moved to where Pietro was standing and gazing irritably at his left arm. "Are you alright, my friend?" asked the god.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he grumbled. There was a small circle of red in his bicep, and he frowned at it.

Esca, her eyebrows furrowed in worry, flitted over to him before quickly using a dagger Natasha had given her to get the bullet out of his arm.

As she did this and quickly healed the wound, Pietro smiled. "I'm getting an immense feeling of déjà vu here…"

She laughed—but that laughter was short-lived as another gunshot sounded. Thor exhaled and doubled over as Esca glanced around him to see who else was coming.

At the sight, she inhaled sharply and exclaimed into her headset, "Guys, I think we got the majority of the party guests! Might need some backup!"

Standing behind the man who shot Thor were at least a dozen more soldiers. And, naturally, all of **_them_** had pistols as well.

"Who the hell are these people?!" she gasped, at which exclamation Pietro stared at her as if she were an alien.

"That," he declared, zooming around and knocking one of the men to the ground, "is the very first time I've heard you curse."

"Oops!" she gasped before aiming her gun and pulling the trigger.

One of the men crumpled underneath himself, clutching his leg in pain. Despite only having shot the man's leg, Esca paled. She didn't necessarily like the feeling of shooting a man.

But if she wanted to be an Avenger, she'd have to get used to it.

And so she aimed again and gave another man a shoulder wound—nothing fatal, she didn't want to seriously maim or injure anybody—before being forced to drop to the ground to avoid a bullet in her **_own_** shoulder.

It only took five minutes for the trio to knock the dozen HYDRA men unconscious. Perhaps it had been less; Esca wasn't sure. But she **_did_** know that people were starting to swarm around the scene, as the gunfire had attracted their attention like birds were attracted to James's metal arm whenever he went out without a sweatshirt.

Just as she was about to contact the others and let them know they were okay, Steve and Natasha arrived.

Perusing the place, Steve chuckled. "I was going to ask if you needed any help, but it seems like you made short work of them."

Natasha gazed at one of the men's forms on the ground and raised an eyebrow approvingly. "Nice aim, Rarity."

"Thanks!" beamed Esca. She liked getting praise from a master assassin. It was quite gratifying. But then, glancing at the men and seeing how many people were starting to congregate, she asked nervously, "What now?"

Steve looked back. "Now I think we call the police to take **_all_** of these gentlemen to jail."

Esca deflated a little. "Oh. Okay."

Both Pietro and Steve noticed. It was Pietro who asked, "What is it, Esca Rarity?"

"It's nothing," she answered quickly, putting on a winning smile. Unfortunately for her, the winning smile wasn't fooling anyone today.

"Esca," smiled Steve, though there was a look in his eyes that just made her sigh and feel compelled to speak her mind.

"Okay, so… maybe I feel like I could've done more," she admitted guiltily, shrugging. "Thor and Pietro took care of most of them, and I feel bad, because I know I could've helped out more."

"Miss Esca," chuckled Steve, placing a hand on her arm. "It's your first mission, and you were partnered with a demigod and a man who could literally race around the world in a day. You held up very well, with those facts taken into consideration."

Surprisingly, she did feel a **_little_** better with this. It got better when Pietro and Thor started agreeing, and Thor started reenacting how impressive she looked when she shot, even though it was all dramatic and clearly for her entertainment.

With a giggle, Esca said, "Okay, we should really call—"

She stopped short. Movement caught her attention.

Seeing what it was, she yelped. " ** _No!_** " Her voice was a strangled cry as she leapt in front of Steve and held her hands up just as a deafening _BANG!_ sounded through the air.

Pietro screamed—a sound Esca wished she would never have to hear in her life again. Thor bellowed in outrage, and Natasha snarled as Steve simply gasped her name.

But Esca didn't feel anything. She didn't **_see_** anything, either, as she'd closed her eyes when she'd thrown her hands in front of her.

When she opened them, she gasped.

A translucent shield was sparkling in front of her, freezing a bullet in place, aimed for her ribcage. It would've hit Steve in the stomach if she hadn't moved.

Her gaze landed on the man who'd recuperated enough to shoot the pistol. She didn't even open her mouth before Pietro zoomed over, slapped him hard, and zoomed back. The man was then unconscious again.

After this, the next thing Esca noticed were the bright yellow and white flashes surrounding her. She almost sighed in exasperation upon realizing that they were cameras… but then, she realized this was what she'd wanted.

She'd wanted to prove she wouldn't be bait, that she could hold her own.

And now she'd just proved she'd hold up **_others_** in the Avengers, too.

With a lopsided grin, Esca stepped carefully to the side. "Steve, get out of the way," she commanded—the captain did so quickly. Then Esca let her hands drop. The bullet plinked harmlessly to the ground.

Finally, the others released the breath they didn't realize they were holding. Each of them simply stared at the bullet, now just an insignificant piece of metal, until they glanced around at one another.

It was Esca who started to laugh first. Thor soon joined her—then Natasha, and Steve. Pietro was not laughing, but he smiled somewhat as he wrapped an arm around Esca's shoulder and kept a wary lookout, as if to make sure no one else would hurt her.

The five of them ignored the multiple questions from the onlookers as they waited for everyone else to report. Once the others returned and the cops arrived, Tony waved the press and the fans off so that they might return to Stark Tower.

But as they were escaping the montage of citizens and journalists, Pietro leaned close to Esca and murmured, "For the record, what you just did outranks anything the rest of us might ever do in the field of combat."

Esca smiled up at him—but then she laughed as he pleaded, face white, "But don't ever do it again."

With a small smile on her face, she took his pinkie finger in hers and pushed past the next barrier of people.


	29. Only For You

Hello, wonderful readers! Here is the second to last chapter! Can't believe we're so close to the end... It's been a good run, huh? Thank you so much for sticking with this story. You're all so great; my readers, followers, favoriters, reviewers... thanks to **AbilgailPeters, CrazyCountryGirl12, Saint of the Sinners** for their reviews! I love reading your comments, guys! Thank you!

On another note... I'm just wondering something. I wrote in a GIANT Easter Egg for this fic. Only one person has discovered it (my best friend), and she says it was one of those that once you find it, you're like, "REALLY?!" I'm curious about if any of you have found it... a lot of you have mentioned something close to it in your reviews, and it makes me giggle a little. I just thought I'd let you know that some of you are close. ;)

That's all I've got for you! Have a MARVELous day!

Countdown to end: 1 chapter

* * *

The following morning, the tabloids came out. Surprisingly, most of them were relatively accurate with what had happened the previous day, which made Esca Rarity quite happy. Pietro couldn't help but laugh a little at her exhilaration—now that she was able to go grocery shopping without getting mobbed, she was even cheerier than before.

As the next week and a half passed, however, Pietro noticed that Esca Rarity was acting a little strange. She spent more time hovelled up in the common area, often forbidding people to come inside or else she'd not cook dinner. During this time, she would plunk away at the piano in the middle of the room. More than once, Pietro had stood outside the door, wondering what she was doing. Usually she just played that French guy's songs—Debussy, he remembered.

Naturally, he was confused. But whenever he'd ask her about what she was playing, she'd just grin and say, "Just messing around. I get bored."

He knew she wasn't telling him the truth… but he also knew she wouldn't spill unless she wanted to. He'd have to resort to other measures… other measures meaning his sister.

But asking Wanda was a dead-end, too. When he asked her about what Esca Rarity was doing—because he knew that **_she_** knew—Wanda only laughed and replied, "It's nothing, Pietro. It's exactly as she says. She's just playing the piano."

He still knew they weren't telling him something.

And Pietro was going to find out.

It was two weeks after their last mission that Pietro put his well thought out plan into place. That afternoon, as Esca Rarity was playing the piano again—the same melody as always, although she stopped here and there as if forgetting what she was doing—he stood just around the doorway, recording the song on video.

Next to him, on the other side of the doorway, was James, who'd agreed to help with Pietro's conspiracy. James was holding up a cell phone—although James called it a music box, for some reason—and had the thing called "Siri" on it.

"What song is this?" murmured James, and he let Siri hear what Esca played on the piano.

After a brief moment, the words "Unable to decipher song" popped up.

Discouraged, Pietro groaned, "Looks like we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."

James chuckled. "In case you don't remember, Pietro, I don't know many songs. You know, because I've been frozen. Remember that?"

Pietro smirked. "I'm not expecting you to know which song she's playing. I'm hoping you can help me remember it so I can research the notes later."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not a music guy. I'm more of a kill-anything-that-gets-in-my-way-or-annoys-me kind of guy."

"That doesn't mean—"

" ** _What_** are you two doing?!" exclaimed a voice.

Both Pietro and James yelped and jumped backward only to see Esca Rarity standing guard in the doorway, her hands on her hips. The two men exchanged panicked glances and started stammering that they were just listening, and it was very nice, and what song is it, exactly?

With this, Esca Rarity smirked. "I see," she murmured. "You two are spying on me to see what I've been doing on the piano. Honestly, don't you two have better things to do?"

"No, not really," replied James.

Pietro nodded in agreement.

She sighed, and her eyes found the ceiling. "I'm just playing the gosh darn piano, you guys! Sheesh! Why is it such a big deal?"

"Because you're shutting everyone out while you play it!" spluttered Pietro.

Esca Rarity laughed. "That's because I'm not the best pianist in the world, Pietro," she responded, shaking her head hopelessly. "I can only play Debussy well. I don't want anyone else listening to my atrocious plunking."

Pietro started protesting about how she wasn't atrocious on the piano at all—

"Good to know," she giggled, "but I'd still like to have my peace while I plunk, thank you very much. Now if you two will please show yourselves elsewhere?"

She raised an eyebrow with this last; it was this gesture that made Pietro certain there would be no arguing with her. Knowing this, he huffed and muttered under his breath before sulking around the corner, James on his heels.

Once Esca Rarity retreated back into the common area and immediately began playing the piano again, he sighed and looked at James. "You okay with forming a Plan B?"

"No way," laughed James. "I value my life, thanks."

"Oh, come on, man!"

"I have a feeling she'll tell you before long," chuckled James. "After all, your birthday **_is_** in a week, isn't it?"

Pietro blinked, wondering what James meant by that. But by the time he opened his mouth to ask how his birthday tied into it, the ex-assassin was gone.

With a grumble, Pietro walked back to the common area only to see Esca Rarity was off the piano and cooking dinner. He moved toward her and asked, "What happened to the piano playing?"

"I knew you would just come back, so I quit for tonight," she replied tranquilly, facing away from him as she sliced some potatoes.

"Are you… are you **_purposefully_** keeping me from knowing what you're doing?!"

"Yes."

With this answer, Pietro clenched his fists in frustration. " ** _Damn it,_** woman! I'm curious as shit about this!"

She laughed aloud, her shoulder shaking. Finally, she turned around, her face somewhat pink and an eyebrow raised again. "Is waiting for another week so torturous?"

Pietro was about to respond, but he froze. So did Esca Rarity.

"I mean—" she started, but Pietro just leapt off the chair he was sitting on and laughed manically.

" ** _Ha!_** " he exclaimed, pointing at her as if he'd just decrypted the female mind in its entirety. "So! I was right! You **_are_** keeping something from me!"

Esca Rarity sighed and put her head in her hands. She muttered something that sounded like, "Why do I tolerate this child?" But then, louder, she answered, "Alright, fine. Yes, I am. But just because you've found that much out doesn't mean I'm telling you all of it. You can wait seven days."

"I hate waiting," he pouted, crossing his arms.

"I don't care. You'll have to. I've already sworn Wanda to secrecy—I'm sure you've found that out by now."

Pietro harrumphed but didn't outright let Esca Rarity know that she was right. He opened his mouth to hopefully acquire more information about whatever-it-was she was doing, but then Rogers entered the common area, and the two started up a conversation.

He huffed in exasperation. Rogers always had the most **_brilliant_** timing… It looked like he'd have to actually **_wait_** for whatever was happening.

The thought was maddening.

* * *

The following week introduced Pietro to a whole new level of curiosity.

Each night, at seven in the evening exactly, Esca Rarity would play the piano, the same thing over and over again, as if she were programmed to do so. As the days progressed, everything grew smoother and less hesitant—Pietro would sometimes listen, but within five minutes of him standing outside the doorway, Esca Rarity would shoo him away. Or Wanda would: whoever came first.

At last, however, the day came where Pietro would finally know what Esca Rarity had been doing. That morning, she kissed his forehead and murmured something about going to make breakfast, and Pietro, despite not being the most jovial person in the early morning, practically leapt out of bed to join her.

It took an hour to make breakfast and gather everyone into the common area. Esca Rarity had made chocolate-chip pancakes, knowing that they were both Pietro's and Wanda's favorites. Everyone dug in—Bruce joked about having another pancake eating contest, at which Natasha and Esca Rarity both screeched, " ** _NO._** "

That effectively shut the idea down.

Despite the little killjoy there, however, the rest of the day proceeded nicely. Everyone went out for a day on the lake—somehow, Stark and Pepper managed to snag and secure a nice spot by the shore so that no one would approach them. Afterward, they went out for a late lunch at the cozy diner Wanda and Pietro went to on Thursdays. Then, everyone went back to Stark Tower to watch the first three _Harry Potter_ movies.

By the time _Prisoner of Azkaban_ finished—Esca Rarity was delighted by having the movie backstory to the third film—it was almost eleven at night. And apparently, that meant presents.

Seeing the boxes assembled in front of him and Wanda, Pietro stared and blinked. He'd never seen so many for him and his sister like this before.

"You guys didn't have to do this," they both started, but they were cut off by protests from all the others.

Apparently the Avengers were serious about birthdays.

And so, one by one, the boxes were opened. There were countless wonderful things: new running shoes (as his old ones still had traces of Jell-O in them), a bulletproof jacket (Pietro figured this was some sort of joke, yet it was a useful one), and a personal handgun (probably also another joke, but another useful one) were a few examples. Meanwhile, Wanda was delighted by the complete set of the _Harry Potter_ books and a Gryffindor scarf, as well as a matching handgun. And then, given to the both of them, were two framed pictures of the Avengers in its entirety, everyone there, laughing at **_something._** Pietro figured the picture had probably been taken by a computer sometime during the prank war, as Barton had a suspicious green liquid dripping from his head as he smirked at the others.

For a moment, Wanda and Pietro could only stare at the pictures. Then, they exchanged looks and managed to issue a strangled, "Thank you," to everyone surrounding them.

Of course, they were met by exclamations of "you deserve this," and "you're family now," which is what Pietro rather figured they'd say. At least, he couldn't say he was surprised. He certainly felt like this place was home, but it was only things like this that made him really realize and remember it.

Once everyone was done smothering them with gifts, Esca Rarity walked over. She first gave Wanda a ginormous hug and exclaimed, "I hope you like the scarf," to which Wanda began grinning and assuring Esca Rarity that she did, and very much. Afterward, however, she walked over to Pietro.

"I think it's time I showed you what I've been doing," she declared, a light smile on the corner of her lips.

Pietro grinned, unable to help it. "The hour I've been awaiting! What song did you learn?"

Esca Rarity giggled softly. "I didn't learn it, Pietro," she murmured, looking at him over her shoulder. "I wrote it. For you."

He froze and stared at her, wondering if she'd just said what he thought she said. "You… what?" he asked, swallowing.

"I wrote you a song," she replied, shrugging. "I know it's cliché, but… I figured… I've never sung for anyone before, much less written a song for them… so I thought I'd do it for you. Only for you. So everyone else get out."

By this point, only Tony and Steve were left in the room, as the others had followed Wanda out. Seeing that they were being dismissed, Tony stuck his tongue out and left, followed by Steve, who was shaking his head at Tony's childish behavior.

Satisfied that the room was completely empty, Esca Rarity exhaled shakily and sat at the piano bench. Pietro walked behind her and looked over her shoulder; she inhaled sharply and squeaked, "Sorry, Pietro, I—I'm nervous enough as it is—would it be alright if you stood on the opposite end of the piano?"

"Of course," he replied, still hardly believing that she **_wrote_** a song. For him.

Once that was done, she smiled again and moved her hands over the keys. And then she began to play.

It started out as something soft, the familiar song Pietro had heard countless times the past week. He watched her face as she played and noticed that as she concentrated, she narrowed her eyes slightly.

And then she began to sing, and he couldn't help but stare in shock. He'd never heard her sing much—just bits here and there when she was healing, and the one time he'd convinced her to sing and she accidentally affected everyone present.

But this was different. This was Esca Rarity's real voice, and it was beautiful. For a minute or so, he was focused entirely on what her voice sounded like… he felt what she was feeling because of her power, and he almost forgot there were words to her song. Pietro only really registered them close to the end:

 _And I was blind_

 _There was no light_

 _For me to see_

 _Just what I was missing_

 _And ever since_

 _Ever since that September_

 _You've given me a life_

 _I will always remember_

 _So only you_

 _Will you hear_

 _The depths of my heart_

 _Finally laid bare_

 _Only for you_

 _Only for you_

 _I hope you know now_

 _How much I really love you_

And then she was done.

For a moment, she was silent, staring down at the piano, her face red. She blinked once or twice before stammering, "I hope—I mean—I started on the words rather late—they probably could've been better—"

"No," contradicted Pietro, finally able to speak. He shook his head slowly and murmured, "No, they couldn't have been. Just this is perfect. Just hearing you sing. And you really… wrote that… for me?"

Esca Rarity blinked again and nodded, some of the embarrassed color vanishing off her face. "Of course."

Pietro sighed and moved back toward her, standing behind her. He placed his hands on her arms and murmured into her ear, "Thank you, Esca Rarity."

"Thank **_me?_** " she laughed, shaking her head. "No. Thank you. For changing my life. For saving it, actually," she added with a halfhearted smirk.

"I could just as easily turn this back around at you," he retorted, reflecting her smirk.

"Today is about you," she protested. "You would not do such a thing. That being said, I have one more gift for you."

She stood up from the piano bench and kissed him lightly—so softly Pietro almost didn't register it. Then she wrapped her arms around him in a hug and murmured into his shoulder, "I hope that wasn't cliché too."

He laughed at that. "It wasn't. Not to me, anyway."

"Oh, great. Thanks. I feel loads better."

Pietro laughed again and kissed the top of her head before keeping his arms around her back. After a moment, however, he said her name. "Esca Rarity."

"Yes?"

"Is that the only time you sing for a while?"

"No," she answered immediately. She moved her head off his shoulder and looked into his eyes as she continued. "No. I will sing whenever you want me to."

He smiled and was surprised by how relieving her answer was. "Okay. Thank you."

"Of course," she sighed, her response muffled because her head rested in the crook of his neck. "But only for you. I'm still nervous about singing…"

"I'd be insulted if anyone else got to hear you sing now."

Now it was Esca Rarity who laughed—Pietro smiled at the sound of it. He was very happy with what he'd finally uncovered, with what he'd heard, what what'd she'd sang and said… and, with a shock, he realized that everything had been completely worth the wait.


	30. The Newest Avenger

Wow... This is it. The last chapter. It's been a good, long run... A huge thank you to each and every one of you for reading this far. You're the best kind of people, and I really appreciate you taking the time to read this. It makes me really glad to know you've enjoyed it enough to stick around.

As always, thanks to **CrazyCountryGirl12, ForeverAMaiden,** and **Saint of the Sinners** for reviewing! Please leave your overall thoughts and comments for me about the story. Did you like it? Favorite part? Something I could've improved upon? Even if you just want to tell me your favorite flavor of ice cream, that'd be great. Just seeing your comments is wonderful.

That's it, guys. That's all I have for you. Have a MARVELous day, everyone, and thanks for sticking with me till the end of the line. :)

* * *

 _-One Year Later-_

* * *

"Really, Tony?" sighed Esca, rolling her eyes at the man. Tony was currently sticking a dozen of her homemade French fries in his mouth to make himself look like he had buck teeth. "You are Iron Man, a billionaire extraordinaire. Must you act like a three year old?"

Pepper laughed at Esca's reprimand and put a hand on her arm. "Trust me, I've been asking him the same question for years on end."

Seeing the spectacle, everyone laughed. Tony smirked smugly and only worked on swallowing the many potatoes in his mouth as they did. After another moment, he swallowed and declared, "Hey, you live under **_my_** roof, blondie. You can at least show me some respect."

"You own twelve percent of this roof," muttered Pepper; Tony almost choked on a French fry.

Just as everyone started laughing again, however, Esca moaned and stood up before running to the bathroom. She'd been sick the past couple days, throwing up whenever she tried to eat breakfast, which really stunk, because she loved breakfast. She had a small fever and tried to tell the others that she probably wasn't fit to be fixing **_their_** food, but they didn't want to hear of it because, as Tony said, "You're the only one in this joint that can cook. Other than Capsicle."

Almost immediately after Esca made it to the restroom, Pietro ran after her, concern on his face. He hated it when she got sick—that happened about once every three months, and for some reason, it never differed.

"You okay?" he asked.

He was answered by Esca regurgitating what little lunch she'd had.

"Apparently not," he answered himself. "Stay here. Be right back."

Then he zoomed out—Esca sighed and muttered drearily, "Not planning on going anywhere anytime soon."

Within another twenty seconds, he was back, sporting a glass of ginger ale in his hand. Esca smiled faintly at the gesture—it was always his go-to whenever he wanted to help but wasn't completely sure how to.

"Thanks," she sighed, taking the glass and taking a hesitant sip of it. She felt her stomach churn at the taste, but she swallowed some more anyway, as Pietro had gone to the trouble of getting it for her.

"Wanda, Vision, and Bruce should be getting back soon. When they do, we can get Bruce to see what you've got **_this_** time." Pietro said these last few words teasingly, which made her laugh and punch his arm.

"It's not by my design to get sick, you know," she stated.

He grinned. "Yeah, I know. I'm just giving you crap about it. Because I can."

Esca rolled her eyes, trying to withhold her laugh. "Fine, then. Do what you want."

"As I always do."

With that, he held out a hand to help her up, and they returned to the common area, where everyone was waiting.

"Feeling better?" asked Steve with a smile.

Esca nodded. "Better than I was five minutes ago. Ugh, I hate being sick. I can't wait until Bruce gets back so he can give me some antibiotics or something. How long was their mission supposed to take again?"

"About twelve hours," answered Natasha. "It was somewhere in Minnesota, which isn't too long a ride aboard the Quinjet. They should return pretty soon."

"That's a relief," laughed Esca.

Over the past year, the Avengers had decided to split up the missions into groups of people. They even made the different groups into a cycle—there were four groups that, in the order of the cycle, went thus: Pietro, Esca, and Thor were Group 1, Steve, James, and Zelda were Group 2, Wanda, Vision, and Bruce were Group 3, and Tony, Natasha, and Clint were Group 4. Pepper, meanwhile, oversaw everything through cameras and kept people from doing something stupid like dying.

It was Group 3's turn to completely a mission, most unfortunately for Esca.

Luckily, it was only another two hours until Wanda, Bruce, and Vision returned. They were met by most of the group, as they hadn't left the common area yet, and everyone immediately began congratulating them on their latest success.

While Bruce and Vision accepted the congratulations gratefully, however, Wanda looked confused as she glanced around. "Is Clint visiting?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"No," replied Natasha. "If he were, I would've found out by now."

Wanda laughed. "Of course," she said, although she still looked troubled.

After hearing an account from Wanda about how the mission went—it went well, they stopped a few ruffians trying to blow up a building for their crazily religious group—Esca approached Bruce and asked, "Hey, Doc, you think you can do an examination?"

Bruce chuckled and shook his head. "Again, Esca? Germs and bacteria must like you."

Esca sighed theatrically and nodded. "Afraid they do… heaven knows I don't want them to, though."

"Alright," he responded, smiling one of his half-smiles. "You know the way to the lab, I don't have to lead you there anymore."

At this, Esca laughed, if only because it was true. Once they were there, Bruce had her sit down as he took her temperature, blood pressure, all that normal stuff. Afterward, however, Bruce sat back and frowned.

"You don't seem to have a stomach bug," he murmured, almost to himself. "No fever or anything… I mean, a very slight one, but nothing alarming."

Esca frowned too. "Then whatever could it be?"

"It's probably food poisoning," he answered. "Have you eaten anything questionable since yesterday?"

Esca thought back to what she had for dinner the previous night and remembered that she'd had a really greasy pizza—and felt sick afterward. She soon relayed her thoughts to the doctor, who smiled in relief.

"That's almost certainly it," he replied, nodding. Then he stood up and offered Esca a hand. "I'm glad we figured it out. Shall we return to the others?"

"I believe so," declared Esca, smiling somewhat. "I feel better now, anyway."

The doctor smiled at that, and then they returned to the common area, where Wanda approached Esca and asked, "Feeling better? I've heard you've been sick."

"Hardly. Bruce and I think it's food poisoning," she responded, shrugging. "Happens to everyone, I suppose!"

Wanda nodded, although there was a certain look on her face. "That is does…" she answered softly.

Esca noticed the strange demeanor of her friend. "What is it? You look troubled."

"No, I am not," replied Wanda serenely. "It's nothing. Don't worry."

And then she smiled at Esca and walked off, much to Esca's confusion.

Pietro soon approached, and Esca used to the opportunity to ask, "Is your sister feeling alright? I think she's worried about something."

Hearing this, Pietro glanced at his sister, one eyebrow raised. "I haven't noticed anything," he remarked mildly. "Maybe you're imagining things," he then teased.

She huffed somewhat and declared, "I am not. But before I can get into an argument with you about this, I'm going to go take a walk. It's nice out today, and I've been bored in this Tower. See you later, okay?"

Before Pietro could say anything, Esca escaped from the common area and started going down the elevator, relieved that he couldn't see her puzzled expression. Wanda's strangeness was bothering her more than it perhaps ought to… but there was this feeling in the bottom of her stomach that whatever Wanda knew was important.

* * *

Naturally, three hours later, when Esca thought she was in the clear, she threw up again. The smell of sautéing onions was making her sick to her stomach—Natasha and Steve had to take over dinner while she recuperated on the couch.

Bruce and Pietro both walked in at the same time, and Esca moaned as they came inside. "Bruce!" she exclaimed, her voice muffled because her face was buried into a pillow. "It's not food poisoning! I'm still sick!"

"What?" he asked, astonished. His eyes widened underneath his glasses. "I was certain it was food poisoning!"

"It's not," moaned Esca as Pietro put a hand on her back in encouragement.

"It'll pass," he said calmly.

"It better," she mumbled, putting her hands atop her head. "I feel less than stellar."

Both Pietro and Bruce chuckled at that and started assuring her that after a good night's sleep, she'd feel perfectly fine. And some food wouldn't hurt, either, so you better eat dinner.

With a groan, Esca got off the couch. She stumbled toward the table, as by this time dinner was ready, and plopped into her seat, much to the amusement of the others. Somewhat exasperated, she groaned, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," exclaimed Nat, although she was smirking.

Just then, Wanda entered the room, apparently somewhat peeved. "Alright, you guys, I **_know_** someone new has entered this Tower! I don't know how you've hidden this person's mind from me for so long, but I can sense that someone else is here. Enough games. Who arrived?"

Uneasy looks were passed around. It was Vision who spoke first. "Wanda, no one has arrived. Perhaps your powers are simply—"

"They're not," she interrupted, narrowing her eyes. "Something has happened."

"Wanda, do you really think we'd hide something from you?" asked Pietro.

"Well, yes, if **_you_** were involved!"

"I hate to break it to you, but I have done no such thing."

"Then who—"

"Wanda, maybe you should come have something to eat," ushered Steve, standing up to escort her to a chair.

"No, Steven, I don't need something to eat," retorted Wanda, crossing her arms defensively. "I need to know what's going on. Something's going on, I can sense it!"

"Oh, please stop shouting," gasped Esca, bolting straight up from her seat. She was about to burst into tears from all the stress running around the room.

Pietro looked aghast by her sudden move. "Esca Rarity?" His voice was questioning.

She swallowed and looked back down at him, the familiar feeling that she might just throw up again consuming her. "Hold on," she groaned. "I need a minute."

With that, she walked toward the sink and put her hands to her head before groaning. "I **_hate_** this!" she exclaimed, glancing up at the ceiling. "Ugggghhhhh…"

There was a brief silence before finally, Bruce spoke up. "Ah, Esca, I think I might know what ails you."

"What is it?" she asked, not looking at him. "A stomach bug?"

"No, I don't believe so—"

"Oh my God," gasped Wanda.

Esca glanced at her. "What is it? Is Clint here after all?" She glanced around the room, expectantly searching for the archer. Unfortunately, he was nowhere in the room; she leaned back over the sink, if only to be sure that she would not throw up on the dinner table. "Nope," she answered herself. "Clint isn't here. Drat. I want to see him."

Another silence… and then—

"Will you be returning to us, Esca? We shall wait for you," remarked Thor.

Esca smiled and shook her head. "No, you shall do no such thing. Do not worry about me, Thor. The rest of you go ahead and eat, okay? I just… need another minute. Sorry." She slammed a hand down on the counter and groaned, "I hate nausea!"

"That's quite unfortunate," sympathized Bruce. "Hopefully the next couple months will pass quickly."

"I won't be sick **_that_** long," laughed Esca. "Or at least, I hope not…"

"Don't worry, it'll pass," said Wanda, her voice suddenly very calm.

"Indeed, I've heard the first trimester is the worst," input Tony.

Esca wasn't quite listening to them, however—at least, she wasn't until she heard, "Wait… **_what?!_** " and the screeching of a chair against the floor, a huge _CRASH!_ and, "OUCH."

She whirled around and saw Pietro launching up from falling on the ground; his face was white.

"What is it?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowing. She glanced at everyone else and saw numerous different expressions—Wanda, Bruce, and Natasha were all beaming while Tony was wearing a shark's grin. Thor's own grin was nearly stretching off his face, and Steve wore a specific smile that was happy, and yet somewhat sad.

Laughing uneasily, she asked, "What's the big idea, here?"

"Esca," said Natasha, rising from her chair and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're pregnant."

Esca blinked and stared at Natasha for a moment. Finally, she regained her voice. "No, I'm… not," she retorted stupidly, glancing down at the ground. "It… I don't think it's possible. I mean… no. They broke me."

"Did you officially graduate?" murmured Natasha, her eyes filled with understanding.

"Officially? No… it was like… I had graduated… but I hadn't gone through the ceremony…"

"Then you're pregnant," repeated Nat, determined.

Esca simply stared at her. "But—" She stopped and stared at the ground. "I'm… No, I'm not." She started shaking her head in disbelief. "No, Nat, I can't be. That's not right. You all have to be wrong."

Wanda smiled and shrugged. "I sensed another mind, Esca. If the others aren't hiding someone from me, this is the only possible explanation."

Esca blinked again and dared to look at Pietro, who appeared as dumbfounded as she did. His blue-gray eyes were wide, as if wondering if it was truly possible. He reached out to put a hand on her arm, and she let him, but the touch didn't register.

She was too afraid.

"God," she moaned, tears springing to her eyes. "Oh, God."

And she started sobbing, not sure what else to do.

Pietro immediately pulled her close and let her cry into his shoulder. Esca didn't know if she could stop, she was so terrified by the possibility.

"I don't k-know the first thing about being a mother!" she wailed, desperately locking her arms around Pietro. She needed to know someone was there, because in the face of what was happening, she felt so out of place. "I n-never had one! What if I c-can't do it?"

Suddenly, she felt someone else massage her shoulders. Somehow, Esca knew it was Natasha.

"You won't be alone, Esca," she heard Natasha say. "We're here."

Esca wasn't sure if she could be comforted by that. They wouldn't be the child's **_mother._**

After a moment, she inhaled deeply and retreated from Pietro's shirt. She looked up at him and saw a mess of emotions: joy, fear, determination.

"I didn't think it possible," she whispered up at him. He just kissed her forehead as she said, "I never thought it could happen. I really thought I was broken."

"Well, I'm glad you're not," he replied, smiling halfheartedly. "But you're right. It **_is_** scary. Despite that, however, I can tell you certainly that you will be an excellent mother, Esca Rarity. You practically mother everyone here already. You might have your doubts, but I do not. You might be afraid, but your fears will not come to life."

Esca swallowed a lump in her throat and blinked. "You think so?" she asked, her voice scratchy.

"No. I know," he answered.

She sighed and buried her face back into his shoulder, not sure if she could keep it together should she retreat. After a moment, however, she murmured, "I guess this means no missions for me for a while, huh?"

"You are absolutely, one-hundred percent correct," answered Pietro as practically everyone else screamed out, " ** _YES._** "

Startled by the response, Esca blinked and looked at her friends. All of them were grinning back at her—they laughed when she moaned, "Oh, the tabloids will have a field day…"

Wanda laughed, then exclaimed, "I can't believe it! I'll be an aunt!"

Pietro blinked. "I hadn't thought about that. I guess you will be."

"I claim being godmother!" exclaimed Natasha, holding up one of Esca's arms as if it were a trophy. "That title is mine! No one take it. I've known her longer than any of you!"

Pepper, Wanda, and Zelda all raised their hands defensively, knowing that if Natasha wanted the title of godmother, then gosh darn it, she'd have it.

"Then who'll be godfather?" smirked Pietro, glancing around at the others.

"ME!" exclaimed Thor, Tony, Bruce, and James all at the same time.

They glared around at one another for a moment: Thor exclaimed, "The title shall be mine! If necessary, I shall summon my brother Loki to help take you down—"

"NO," exclaimed Steve, laughing but also serious.

"Uh, guys, calm down," ushered Natasha. "Bruce is looking a little green over there…"

"Hulk want godfather," he smirked, pushing his glasses up from the bridge of his nose.

Esca laughed at the enthusiastic reaction and said, "We'll… figure that one out later…"

This comment was met with more laughter—after it died down, however, Pietro looked back at Esca. "Now you'd **_really_** better get something to eat, Esca Rarity. I personally believe it's even more important now than it was fifteen minutes ago."

Natasha instantly agreed and started escorting Esca back to her seat. Once seated, she was met with inquiries about if it were a boy, what would his name be, oh I hope it's a girl, Natasha, is there any chance I can share the title of godmother no okay.

Of course, those comments came from the female part of the group—Esca was rather overwhelmed by their support. She knew she'd need it in the upcoming months.

She looked around again and smiled. She was surrounded by her friends and loved ones, all of whom were more than willing to help her through whatever difficulties she might face. As she smiled at them all, she felt Pietro take her hand from underneath the table. She glanced at him to see a warm smile—she quickly returned it.

Even though she was terrified of what would come, she knew, somehow, that it'd all be okay. Her past wouldn't affect her future.

After all, her past hadn't changed what had happened, what she had now. **_Now_** she had a life she was proud of, a family she loved, a man she loved, and a child on the way.

Five years ago, such happiness would've been thought impossible.

Now, it was reality… and it was all because of a silly little comment.

 _You saved my life._


	31. Birth, Joy, and Godfathers

"FOR GOD'S SAKE HOW LONG DOES THIS GO ON?!"

Pietro was being driven crazy by the screaming that was happening outside the maternity ward. He had been pacing the last three hours while Esca Rarity, groaning and trying not to scream, was frantically escorted into the hospital by himself, Stark, and Rogers. Pietro had held her hand in the backseat while Stark sped as quickly as he could without getting in a wreck, and Rogers was uncharacteristically hysterical as he switched between backseat driving and comforting Esca Rarity. In the end, Esca Rarity started crying due to all the panicked screaming going on in the car and Pietro, 100% fed up, just kicked the door open, picked her up, and ran to the hospital without the others.

But now the gang was all there—and effectively gathering quite some attention—and for some reason, this was _worse._ Pietro knew why of course; he wasn't with her. She had asked for Natasha and Natasha alone before really suffering the contractions, and the nurses were busy with other patients as well, so he wasn't getting _any_ information!

It was Steve who responded to Pietro's shout. "We don't know, Maximoff, so you might as well get comfortable."

Pietro groaned. It was horrible, waiting like this. This was the birth of his son. He should be there. He should be helping Esca through her pain. He should be the second person to hold the baby, not counting the nurses.

This thought was what prompted him to say, "Well, screw it, I don't care anymore. I'm going to find her."

And before anyone could stop him, he sped-walked toward the door, opened it, and whirled around to find a nurse.

Within the next minute, he was outside the room. But as he reached out to the doorknob, something inside him froze. He didn't know what he would find if he opened that door. He and Esca Rarity had done plenty of research within the past month and whatnot about what she would have to do during childbirth, how to breathe and collect herself, what types of medicines she might be able to take to lessen the pain.

But Pietro wasn't sure if all that information would be completely accurate. And what if she didn't want him inside?

He stared at his hand on the doorknob and took a deep breath. This was Esca Rarity and his son. He could do this. _He_ shouldn't be the one afraid, he knew it.

So he opened the door.

* * *

"Pietro," grinned Esca tiredly. The door had opened right after the nurses had told her the baby was delivered. Out. And in the world. "Good timing."

Pietro, however, just stood there, blinking. He stiffly walked to her bedside; Natasha moved aside for him as he knelt and took one of her hands in his. He stared at her, obviously trying to think of what to say. After a moment, it appeared he decided to go with, "Are you okay?"

Esca nodded and weakly gestured to the nurses on the far side of the room. They were cleaning off her baby. Their baby. It was still so strange to think that she was a mother now.

He followed her line of sight and inhaled sharply. Esca watched him as he realized what was happening... His face changed from worry to immense anticipation and joy in less than two seconds. She couldn't help but smile at his expression. She was so glad he was here now, but she had known that if she'd allowed him in during the actual birth, he would've been too nervous and jittery and would probably have broken something.

"What will..." he started to ask, but he couldn't finish.

That was alright. Esca knew what he was going to ask: _What will we name him?_

"I still don't know," she murmured, sighing. "I wish I had an answer."

"It's okay," he said. He started to say something else, but he choked as the nurses started to walk over, a bundle of cloths in their arms. And within that—

"Here is your son," they said with a smile, and then they gave the bundle to Esca.

Esca laid eyes on her son and immediately started to cry.

"I'll go get the others," murmured Natasha. She had been so quiet that Esca had forgotten she was in the room. But her oldest friend put a hand on her shoulder, gave her a warm smile, and walked out of the room.

Esca gazed at her son again. His eyes were squinted shut and he was pink all over, but he was still the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Whatever pain she'd experienced from the childbirth rapidly vanished from her memory. Absolute love for the man kneeling beside her bed and the little human in her arms filled it.

For a while, she simply stared at the little infant, not quite sure what else to say or do. She felt tired, yet immensely happy, and yet anxious as well. As always, the fear of being an insufficient mother filled her mind. As soon as that thought came to her, however, Pietro put a hand on hers. She tore her gaze away from the child to Pietro's face, which was filled with pride. He didn't say anything, but Esca knew what to do.

She carefully sat up and passed the baby to him. He reached out with steady arms to hold him. Esca gazed over the two of them, her mind filled with wonder. How had she been blessed with these two miracles?

Another ten minutes passed, with Esca and Pieto taking turns holding their son, before the door opened, and all the Avengers walked inside. As soon as Wanda saw the baby in Esca's arms, she began to cry. Zelda threw her hands to her mouth, blinking rapidly. Thor grinned wildly, Bruce sniffled a little but had a proud smile as if a father would have, James was shaking his head, a grin on his face.

Tony wiped his eyes on his sleeve and was the only one who spoke. "Blast these liquids in my eyes. They're so scared of me they're trying to escape through my tear ducts."

Steve stood in the doorway, looking at the three, a pained smile upon his face.

There was silence in the room for a while before Esca turned the baby towards Natasha, his godmother. She cooed softly at the baby and held him close for a little while. Natasha was surprisingly good with babies. Clint wasn't bad at it either; but after people began to cram around him to get a look at him, the baby began to cry.

"I think the Midgardian child longs for his mother," remarked Thor, gently pushing a few of the others away. Hearing this, Clint returned him to Esca.

"What will you name him?" asked Natasha softly.

Pietro chuckled. "We don't know yet."

"Well, th-that's okay. You still have t-time," stammered Wanda, stifling tears. Vision put an arm around her shoulder in support.

"That we do," murmured Esca. She gazed over all of her friends, congregated there for support. She smiled in gratitude and thought about each one of the men: Clint, Bruce, Tony, Thor, Vision, James, Steve. She knew she wouldn't be able to think of a name for her child at this exact moment, but she could at least pick the godfather, as they'd all begged her to do for the past seven months.

She looked at Pietro. She knew he knew what he was thinking.

"It's up to you," he said, kissing her forehead. "I think they'd all be wonderful godfathers."

Esca giggled somewhat and nodded. It was true; each of them would be phenomenal in their own way. But there was one who stood out to her... One who'd helped take care of her when she was sick, who did his best to always put her at the front of his mind, who was always there when she needed comfort or help. She knew he would do the same thing for her child.

She looked past those gathered around her bed and to the man standing in the doorway.

"Steve," she said.

That was all she needed to say. Steve's face morphed immediately; he was shocked. That much was obvious. But there were other emotions underneath that as well. Joy, anxiety, gratitude. Fear.

He walked forward, seemingly unable to speak. He knelt at Esca's other side, smiled, and finally said, "I'd be honored."

Esca grinned. She knew this would be the right choice. "Thank you, Steve," she whispered.

He nodded; the others began congratulating him. Esca allowed him to hold her son; the Captain stared at the child with a sort of affection that made Esca's heart warm.

The silence in the room gave way to exclamations of congratulations and joy and excitement. Esca looked at Pietro, who was still beside her and was also observing their friends. They exchanged grins and watched as the group surrounded Steve, who was already overwhelmed. He swiftly yet carefully gave the baby back to Pietro before being swamped yet again.

"Do you think they'll all dote on him?" murmured Esca to Pietro.

Pietro chuckled. "Many of them will, I'm sure. And he'll be very well protected by a rather large and deadly family."

"Mm, I suppose you're right," she laughed, looking again at the baby. This time, however, his eyes were open.

They were exactly like Pietro's.

"He has your eyes," she whispered, a grin making her face glow.

"Hopefully he has your hair," he replied, reflecting her joy. "Trust me, you don't want to see what my hair looked like before those stupid experiments."

Esca laughed wholeheartedly now and kissed him and then the baby's forehead. She grinned as Pietro laughed, and then the others shifted over to them again and they were surrounded and everyone was laughing and crying and nothing less than a joyous mess.

But that mess was her family now, and between Pietro and the rest of her friends, there weren't any other people she'd rather have as a family.

* * *

As you all can see, I heard your requests for one last chapter! I hope you'll forgive me for why I waited so long to do it; when I finished the story in August, I imagined that Esca was approximately one and a half months pregnant. Now, seven months later... it lines up quite nicely, doesn't it?

But this **_is_** the last chapter. I have not planned a sequel or any sort of continuation for this line of Marvel adventures and fluff. All things must come to an end, sadly enough... even the good ones. I hope you have all enjoyed my writings these however many months... And thank you honestly, from the bottom of my heart, for dedicating so much time to read this. It means a lot to me...

If you feel so inclined, of course feel free to leave your thoughts and comments as a review, or a message. Your words are always welcome.

That's all for today, my friends. And everyone... Have a MARVELous day. :)

* * *

 _ **The End**_


End file.
